NBA History: 25 former NBA stars you forgot dominated the league 

8) John Havlicek

In most cases, a player who made 13 all-star teams and scored more than 26,000 points can't be forgotten, but Boston Celtics great John Havlicek feels dangerously close to being. Havlicek was a dominant player throughout most of the 1960s and 1970s but was overshadowed by his more iconic teammate, Bill Russell, with whom he won eight championships with.

Later, he was overshadowed by Larry Bird, who debuted for the Celtics two seasons later and helped take Boston and the NBA to another level. Even still, that doesn't take away from the fact that Havlicek was one of the best players in the NBA at his peak. That came during the 1970–71 and 1971–72 seasons, where he averaged 28.9 points, 9 rebounds, and 7.5 assists and 27.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, respectively.

That is even more impressive since there wasn't a 3-point line in the NBA yet, making it tougher to put up big points and few small forwards could create for others at the time, like he could. Not only that but he was a talented defender, making eight All-Defense teams during his career.

Unfortunately, being an elite two-way player for more than a decade has prevented many fans outside of that era from remembering his greatness.