I have a question. I heard a story (maybe on ESPN) about Francis being the best player without having a chance to be in this years playoffs. Who was the last NBA star to not be in the playoffs in his first 3 NBA years? I am hoping to draw a comparison between careers of Francis and another NBA star who couldn't get his team to the playoffs in the beginning? And please only true stars, not folks like Elton Brand, who is not aproven star yet. Anyone have any thoughts who another example is? I think it may be tough just because with 16 teams making the playoffs each year a team has to be sub .500 for 3 consecutive years, which outside of the Clippers most teams can get back on track during that time frame. I'm sure theremaybe some older players who waited awhile due to the smalle rnumber of playoff teams, though.
You have to clarify your definition of 'star'. Why do you consider Francis a star and not Brand? Brand averages more PPG over his career than Steve and has averaged over 10 rebounds. One of the first that comes to mind is Abdur-Rahim.
You cannot compare a point guard and a power forwards stats. But what you can do is compare and rank where they come in their group of elite players. Brand has much more elite players ahead of him then Steve does. (Garnett, Duncan, Webber, Malone, Wallace, Walker (true?), Mcdyess, etc, etc). Steve IMO is only behind Payton and Kidd.
It appears you are saying that a player can't be considered a star if there are already a bunch of stars at his position. That's rather short sighted. Of the players you mentioned, only Garnett and Duncan average more rebounds than Brand. There are only 7 players averaging double figures in both scoring and rebounds. Of those, Brand is 4th in scoring.
