Tim Hardaway Jr had a great game tonight. It got me thinking about father-son duos in the NBA. I was in college at the same time as MJ’s kids and I always found it interesting how they played but never made it in the league.

I wanted to check out father son pairings. What seems to be the case is the children of most STAR NBA players do not have star careers of their own, let alone “good” careers. According to Wikipedia, I’ve counted ~98 father-son pairings in the history of the league.

First, we’ve gotta define some things. What counts as a “STAR” career, and what counts as a “good” career? I’ll pick this somewhat arbitrarily:

  • A “STAR” career is someone who’s made at least 2 All-Stars and scored >10,000 points in their career.
  • A “good” career is someone who’s either: made at least 1 all star game, averaged at least 9 ppg in their career, and played at least 10 years in the league.

Feel free to disagree with me on these definitions.

Next, let’s look at how many “STAR” players have kids in the league!

  • Rick Barry
  • Patrick Ewing
  • Tim Hardaway
  • Juwan Howard
  • George Mikan (THE ORIGINAL STAR)
  • Larry Nance Sr
  • Gary Payton
  • Scottie Pippen
  • Glen Rice
  • Glenn Robinson (kinda barely makes the cut)
  • Arvydas Sabonis (I’m counting him even though his NBA career wasn’t great because he’s one of the most dominant international players of all time)
  • Dolph Schayes
  • John Stockton
  • Bill Walton

Players who were close but just missed the cut:

  • Kenyon Martin (only 1 all star, only 9,000 points)
  • Dell Curry (only 1 all star, only 9,000 points)
  • Doc Rivers (only 1 all star, only 9,000 points)

I think for the most part, this is a pretty decent list and these arbitrary lines do a pretty good job. Dell Curry may have been the ultimate role player, same w/ Doc!

Some of the kids of these players are still super early in their careers so the jury is still out. What’s interesting is how few of these players have kids who are either stars (matching or surpassing their fathers), or have had “good” careers.

Let’s look at some of the kids who make the cut:

  • Brent Barry: 15 year career, 9ppg avg, won a dunk contest, won 2 titles w/ the Spurs. Actually played meaningful minutes in 2005 (24 mpg)
  • Tim Hardaway Jr: In his 11th pro year, career 14ppg avg, basically a very good 6th man. Just an overall solid player
  • Domantas Sabonis: He’s still super young, but he’s 100% going to be on this list. He’s already a 3 time all star, averaged 20-10, helped the Kings make the playoffs for the first time in forever
  • Austin Rivers: He’s close enough, played 10+ years in the league with meaningful roles on good teams. He’s been to the playoffs 8 times and averaged 21 mpg
  • Steph Curry: A consensus top 15 player all time (and some people would put him in the top 10), no need to discuss
  • Seth Curry: Similar to Austin Rivers, he’s been a good role player, multiple playoff performer, always plays meaningful minutes on competitive teams

Not sure what to do about this:

  • Gary Payton 2: Statistically doesn’t really fit, but most people who knows basketball know how good this guy is, and he was an absolutely integral bench player on a championship team. I think his career has been much more unlucky than anything, so I’ll count him!
  • Luke Walton: I think his career was fine, but not sure he’d really count here. He played meaningful playoff minutes for the Lakers when they were awful, but was like the 8th man in 09 and barely played in 2010 when the Lakers were actually good; and pretty much his career was over after that. I think injuries played a bit part in this as well

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Is anyone interested in this? To me it’s pretty cool. The TLDR is: if your dad is an NBA star, history says you’re not going to have a career as good as his. Sabonis will have the best NBA career of anyone on this list (of star NBA players… not counting Steph here); but I’m not sure his career will ever measure up to his dad’s. It makes people like Brent Barry or Tim Hardaway Jr or Austin Rivers, who carved out long NBA careers as valuable journeymen/role players even more special to see, and just goes to show how damn hard it is to make it in the league.

Most of the BIGGEST stars ever didn’t have kids who could make it at all:

  • Shaq’s son has been on some summer league rosters and played in the G League but can’t make an NBA team;
  • Patrick Ewing’s son played in 5 career games;
  • John Stockton’s son played in 6 career games;
  • Michael Jordan’s kids couldn’t get drafted
  • Scottie Pippen’s son has only played in 6 games (granted last year he was a rookie, maybe he’ll make it)!
  • Dwayne Wade’s son hasn’t been able to make the NBA

It’s also quite interesting to see that very few of these ‘top 50 all time’ players have kids who even could make it. Could it be because of their dads that they decided not to pursue basketball? Did their dads’ obsession with greatness turn them off the game? Personally I find this stuff quite interesting.

Within the next 2-3 years, we’ll find out about LeBron’s kids. Bronny Jr is in college now, and it’s very likely that SOME TEAM will draft him for the shot at signing LeBron… his other son Bryce seems to be more hyped/talented but he’s a few years away. Carmelo Anthony’s son is only 16 but looks like he’s been climbing national rankings… unfortunately Kobe didn’t have any sons, and his daughter Gianna who seems like she was showing a ton of potential + had a huge interest in basketball passed away (side note: wouldn’t it have been amazing to see Kobe’s daughter dominate the WNBA in 10 years???)

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That’s it for now, feel free to enjoy + discuss