Mark Jackson

Mark Jackson made a long career out of reading the floor a beat before everyone else. The Brooklyn-bred point guard won 1988 Rookie of the Year with the Knicks — 13.6 points and 10.6 assists a night — after going 18th overall, the lowest pick to claim the award in three decades. He was no burner and made just one All-Star team, in 1989, but his patient, post-up playmaking aged gracefully across stops in New York, Indiana and beyond, carrying him to his only Finals as Indiana's starter in 2000. Jackson retired with 10,334 assists, second on the all-time list at the time behind only John Stockton, and still sits among the career leaders. His trademark low-post 'shimmy' captured his game: leverage and guile over speed. He later coached the Warriors and settled in as a longtime broadcaster.