When the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1997 during NBA All-Star weekend, they also announced the 50 greatest players in the history of the league. Twenty-five years later and we’re quickly approaching the start of the NBA’s 75th season and he league is going to do what they did a quarter-century ago; they’re going to put out a list of the NBA’s 75 greatest players of all-time based on their contributions.

There’s nothing easy about creating lists especially when you’re trying to choose 75 legendary players that encapsulate the league’s history. There’s certainly going to be several Hall of Fame, all-star players left off this year’s list.

And to get to seventy-five, it’s not as simple as adding 25 players to the list of the 50 that already was announced way back in 1997. Instead the NBA is re-evaluating the ENTIRE list from #1 all the way to #75.

There’s no doubt that LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Steph Curry will be on the NBA75 list. In fact, see the betting promo codes available and put money on those players. I’s easy to add players like James, Kobe, Curry, Tim Duncan, and Dirk Nowitzki, but the tough work is in excluding players that have a strong case, but not enough accolades and impact; chiefly those that were already included in the top 50.

Which NBA 50 players will be cut for the NBA 75?

In other words, the players that were in the #35-50 range from 1997 are going to have to battle it out with the superstars that came after the 1997 season not to mention the Hall of Famers that didn’t make the anniversary list the first time around like Artis Gilmore (how?!), Dominique Wilkins, Dennis Rodman, Bob McAdoo, Arian Dantley and Alex English.

So which players that made 1997’s roster of 50, but are at extreme risk of being cut from the 2021 list? Here’s the five players that we think may be cut from the upcoming NBA’s 75 Greatest Players starting with players at highest-risk.

1. Bill Walton It’s hard to leave off a league MVP (1977-78) and NBA champion, but it’s the body of work when it comes to the 75 greatest players. That body of work being considered, Walton played just 468 games, never averaged more than 18.6 points, and ended up scoring just 6,215 points in his injury-plagued career. Of all the players that made the NBA50, Walton should be the first player cut to make room for much-more qualified players for the NBA75.

2. Billy Cunningham was an NBA MVP and champion, but played just 11 seasons — two with the ABA — and ended his career with a relatively-pedestrian 16,310 career points and just five all-star games to his resume.

3. Bill Sharman was a fantastic player and 4-time NBA champion but his numbers suffered playing with a strong Boston Celtics team. Individually, Sharman played 11 seasons, eight of which were all-star seasons. Sharman finished his career with 12,665 points and never averaged more than 22.3 points.

4. James Worthy is a Laker legend, a Hall of Famer, a master of the post spin move, and one of my favorite players growing up, Big Game James’ overall numbers (16,320 points in 12 seasons) aren’t impressive considering the other players on this list.

5. Dave DeBusschere A strong inclusion for the league’s 50th anniversary, but eight-time All-Star and six-time defensive selection DeBusschere is right at the edges of not making the 75th. On this list, DeBusschere’s 14,053 points was fourth lowest after Walton, Willis Reed (12,183) and Sharman.

And so we don’t get a ton of written letters from 70 year old NBA fans, we’re not saying Walton, Cunningham, Sharman, DeBusschere and Worthy aren’t great players, but put up against the career accomplishments like Wilkins, Rodman, Reggie Miller, Vince Carter, Klay Thompson, Shawn Kemp, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ray Allen, and Dikembe Mutombo, their place on the all-time list falls into a greater context.