MVPs: 1. Finals MVPs: 0. All-NBA 1st Team: 0. 2nd Team: 3. All Star: 8. MVP: 1.
Defensive POY: 0. All-Defense 1st Team: 1. 2nd Team: 2.
#9 Career RPG.
Career Averages: 18 PPG/ 14 RPG/ 4 APG/ 1.1 SPG/ .9 BPG/ .460 eFG%/ .783 FT%.
Best Season: 20/ 15/ 5/ 1.3/ 1.1/ .475/ .783 (1974-75).
Postseason Averages: 19 PPG/ 14 RPG/ 4 APG/ 1.2 SPG/ .9 BPG/ .451 eFG%/ .744 FT%.
Best Postseason: 21/ 16/ 5/ 1.2/ .7/ .457/ .759 (1976).
Championships: 2 (#1 player on 1, #2 player on 1). Runner-ups: 0.
Why he's below Patrick Ewing: How do you rank a player whose greatest contributions to his team are always described with words like "hustle," "effort," "heart"? None of those show up in the stats. They should show up in the awards, but he only made 3 All-Defense Teams and wasn't named Finals MVP in either of his championships even though I rate him the best player on one of those teams. If we just look at his resume, we have a below-average shooter and good rebounder who had a short career during one of the weakest periods in NBA history (when the ABA was at its peak) and was one of the weakest MVP winners of all-time.
Why he's above the rest: Like with Ewing, I give Cowens a bit of a break on the All-NBA and All-Defense teams because he played at the same time as prime Kareem, Willis Reed, and the end of Wilt's and Nate Thurmond's careers. The fact is his intangibles did show up in awards. He won an MVP when his stats were not as good as those of other players. Voting was done by the players at that time, so Cowens' opponents recognized his ability and value. No one who was the best player on a Finals team and also won an MVP is ranked lower than Cowens; he deserves to be top-50 at least.
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