If you follow the posts ’round these parts, you know I love me some all-time “NBA Arkansans” lists. Below is the most recent batch of stats, baked with love through April 15th, 2016. These are, in short, the Arkansans who through the decades have most heavily taxed NBA nets.
As I point out in an upcoming OnlyInArk.com piece, Johnson recently surpassed Scottie Pippen as the state’s top NBA scorer of all time. While Pippen wasn’t exactly Option No.1 for those great Bulls teams, he is a Top 50 of all time player and did put in 17 years. It’s impressive Johnson has surpassed him in fewer years. He has been blessed with largely good health in the face of heavy minutes (indeed, since 2002 or so no NBA player besides LeBron James has logged more court time).
Bravo, Joe, my c/o 1999 LR Central High classmate. You’ve done well. Here’s to hoping you make your long-deserved first NBA Finals appearance this season. Nash knows you certainly should have gotten one in 2005 while playing in Phoenix …
All-Time NBA Arkansans Point Leader
| 1 | Joe Johnson | Little Rock | 19318 | 16.9 | 44.2% | 37.2% | 80.1% | 15 | 41186 |
| 2 | Scottie Pippen | Hamburg | 18940 | 16.1 | 47.3% | 32.6% | 70.4% | 17 | 41069 |
| 3 | Glen Rice | Jacksonville | 18336 | 18.3 | 45.6% | 40.0% | 84.6% | 15 | 34985 |
| 4 | Joe Barry Carroll | Pine Bluff | 12455 | 17.7 | 47.4% | 0.0% | 74.7% | 10 | 22838 |
| 5 | Sidney Moncrief | Little Rock | 11931 | 15.6 | 50.2% | 28.4% | 83.1% | 11 | 23150 |
| 6 | Archie Clark | Conway | 11819 | 16.3 | 48.0% | 76.9% | 10 | 23581 | |
| 7 | Paul Silas | Prescott | 11782 | 9.4 | 43.2% | 67.3% | 16 | 34989 | |
| 8 | Alvin Robertson | Barberton | 10882 | 14 | 47.7% | 29.5% | 74.3% | 10 | 24669 |
| 9 | Derek Fisher | Little Rock | 10713 | 8.3 | 39.9% | 37.4% | 81.7% | 18 | 32719 |
| 10 | Fat Lever | Pine Bluff | 10433 | 13.9 | 44.7% | 31.0% | 77.1% | 11 | 23814 |
| 11 | Caldwell Jones | McGehee | 10241 | 7.9 | 47.4% | 12.3% | 75.6% | 17 | 35081 |
| 12 | Corliss Williamson | Russellville | 9147 | 11.1 | 49.0% | 13.6% | 71.4% | 12 | 18749 |
| 13 | Antonio Davis | Pine Bluff? | 9041 | 10 | 44.8% | 8.7% | 72.7% | 13 | 26084 |
| 14 | Mike Conley | Fayetteville | 8635 | 13.6 | 44.0% | 37.3% | 80.6% | 9 | 20692 |
| 15 | Wil Jones | McGehee | 8482 | 11.7 | 45.9% | 14.3% | 73.3% | 9 | 21931 |
| 16 | Michael Cage | West Memphis | 8278 | 7.3 | 51.5% | 0.0% | 66.4% | 15 | 29716 |
| 17 | Eddie Miles | North Little Rock | 8120 | 13.4 | 44.0% | 74.7% | 9 | 15681 | |
| 18 | Darrell Walker | Chicago | 6389 | 8.9 | 43.5% | 5.9% | 71.3% | 10 | 18601 |
| 19 | Ron Brewer | Fort Smith | 5971 | 11.9 | 45.9% | 24.8% | 82.4% | 8 | 12892 |
| 20 | Todd Day | Decatur | 5917 | 12.3 | 40.6% | 34.5% | 73.9% | 8 | 12214 |
You’ll notice I have included some Razorbacks born out of state. I’ve boldfaced their names. Its worth noting Alvin Roberton is the only non-native Razorback found in the Top 19. That is a result of the program’s inability to lure big-time talent from other areas of the country relative to other (current and former) powerhouses over the last couple decades. Even when the program did bring in great high school talents like Darnell Robinson, BJ Young and Olu Famutimi, those players have failed to develop into NBA players at all, let alone NBA players with long, productive careers.
Of course, we wouldn’t be having this discussion right now had Nolan Richardson stayed another year and signed Andre Iguodala, who has gone on to score 12, 109 NBA points and would rank No. 5 on this list. Around that same time in the early 2000s, Mississippi prep superstar Al Jefferson was also a Razorback lean before bolting directly for the NBA.
He would be No. 4.
