NBA: 30 most unguardable moves in league history

30 most unguardable moves in NBA history: 18. George Gervin, finger roll

One of the most overlooked players in NBA history, George ‘The Iceman’ Gervin earned his nickname by playing the game like he was cool as ice. He feared no opponent and left everything he had on the court for his teammates, paving the way for generations of Spurs basketball that followed him. The lanky wing was as graceful a player as we’ve ever seen and his finger-roll layups prove it.

Though many players had their own variations of the layup, Gervin was the player who popularized it for his era by finishing with grace after leaping with explosiveness. Technically, Wilt Chamberlain was the first player to use the finger roll on a consistent basis, but it was naturally easier for a player as physically gifted as the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain. For players like 6-foot-7 Gervin, it required more patience and elegance around the rim.

Gervin was known to take off from as far as the free-throw line for his astonishing layups. The ball gently glided off his fingertips as a slab of melting butter would slide off of a Sunday morning pancake. It was perfection and excellence wrapped into one shot at the rim. Defenders knew what was coming when Gervin got to the rim and often tried to force him into shooting or passing instead.

It didn’t matter very much because Gervin always seemed to get the best of his matchup. To this day, Gervin’s 25.1 points per game rank 11th on the all-time points per game list. By the time he got to the basket, Gervin’s opponents had no choice but to watch as he dropped a pretty finger roll into the cup.