36. Larry Sanders – Leader of the Block Party
The Stats: Five seasons played in Milwaukee. 6.5/5.8/0.7/0.6/1.8 on 48.0/00.0/55.5.
The Accolades: Has the ninth-most blocks in Bucks history, recorded a points-rebounds-blocks triple-double, led the NBA in block percentage in 2013, drafted 15th overall in 2010.
The Breakdown: Navigating Larry Sanders’ time with the Milwaukee Bucks is certainly impossible in just three paragraphs, so we’ll focus on some of the positive aspects. Sanders was legitimately good enough of a defensive player to vault himself into contention for the Bucks All-Defense team.
His basic statistics are nothing to write home about, but when Sanders was on he was nearly impenetrable in the paint. There was a time where he was seen as Milwaukee’s obvious long-term option at center, despite his lack of much scoring. He just did everything else so well.
Of course things didn’t end up playing out that way, and despite being just 27 years old Sanders is entirely out of basketball these days. That’s a shame–if he had been able to play in Milwaukee for the rest of his career, Sanders would almost certainly have made the top half of this list.
Next: Number 35