MVPs: 0. Finals MVPs: 0. All-NBA 1st Team: 3. 2nd Team: 3. All Star: 12. MVP: 0.
Defensive POY: 0. All-Defense 1st Team: 0. 2nd Team: 2.
Points Champ: 1. Rebounds Champ: 2.
Career Averages: 21 PPG/ 12 RPG/ 2 APG/ 1 SPG/ 2 BPG/ .452 eFG%/ .670 FT%.
Best Season: 23/ 12/ 2/ 1.9/ 2.3/ .443/ .766 (1974-75).
Postseason Averages: 23 PPG/ 13 RPG/ 2 APG/ 1.1 SPG/ 2.6 BPG/ .464 eFG%/ .652 FT%.
Best Postseason: 22/ 13/ 2/ 1.5/ 2.5/ .491/ .594 (1978).
Championships: 1 (best player). Runner-ups: 2 (#1 player on 1, #2 player on 1).
Why he's below Dolph Schayes: They have similar stats and postseason success; Schayes played during a weak era of the league, but so did Hayes, who had his best seasons during the years the ABA was active. Hayes was a bad shooter (especially for a power forward) and didn't make up for it with great free throw shooting like Schayes did. I have Hayes rated as the best player on a championship team, but he didn't win Finals MVP, possibly due to his reputation to shrink away from the big moment.
Why he's above the rest: Hayes played 16 seasons and never played fewer than 80 games. He led the league in minutes per game twice. That kind of reliability allowed him to finish top 11 in both career points and rebounds, but it also made it easier on coaches drawing up game plans and easier for the team to build on-court familiarity. That's a big part of why he was a top-2 player on 3 Finals teams despite never having a teammate who makes the top 50 on my list.
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