The 75 greatest players in NBA history, ranked by Player Efficiency Rating (PER)
By Cal Durrett
57. Patrick Ewing-21.01
New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing may have never won a championship but he was still one of the best players in the 1980s and 1990s due to his remarkable consistency. Ewing managed to average at least 20 points per game for 13 straight seasons, with a combined average of 23.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, and 1.1 steals over that run. Better still, he has a PER of 22.
That run all but guaranteed his place in these all-time rankings, with efficient scoring, rebounds, blocks, and steals combining to make him one of the most productive players in NBA history. Interestingly enough, Ewing is still behind fellow 1990's superstar centers Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and even Alonzo Mourning in PER, with Shaq, Robinson, and Olajuwon seemingly ahead of him in many fans all-time rankings too.
That does lend some credibility to PER after some questionable rankings thus far. As we continue on, it will be interesting to see how much this list diverges from the general consensus, though Ewing's placement seems to be about right.