Yellow Heroes
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 9:21 pm
I normally start these articles off with some explanation about how I came up with the idea but I got this idea so long ago that I don’t remember why or how I thought of it in the first place. We get to celebrate the careers of the best of the best but what about those players that excelled even though they didn't have elite athleticism and skill? They deserve to be celebrated too. So here is a list of the greatest players to ever max out their potential color at yellow.
Wayman Tisdale - 60.4 Career EWA
For us old timers, this is no surprise. Tisdale played three seasons for me when I was a youngish GM and I remember thinking how effective yellow players could be. Little did I know, I was dealing with greatest yellow player the game had ever or would ever (so far) see. Tisdale only played 8 seasons in the league, which means he averaged 7.55 EWA a year, the second best average of a yellow player and the best average for a yellow player playing more than a few years. 1991 was the magic year for Tisdale. That year he scored 25.7(!!!) points per game and hauled in 6.7 rebounds per game. He was even named to the All-Star team. He followed up this crowning achievement with Sixth Man of the Year in 1993.
What made Tisdale so great? Honestly, I have no clue. The new college draft files produce about 5 guys a year that look just like Tisdale. He had an A in inside scoring and Cs in other important places like jump shot, rebounding, post defense, and blocking. He was actually pretty weak for a big man and fairly slow. Maybe he just got plugged into the right teams at the right times. Playing next to Shawn Bradley in Portland certainly helped his defense. He was also usually on bad teams, which helped him pad his stats. He only made the playoffs twice in his career (both times with the Blazers, suprisingly). I also think that the league is just a different place now. If Tisdale played today, he probably wouldn’t rack up all that EWA. Nevertheless, tonight we honor thee, Wayman Tisdale, the greatest yellow ever.
Dan Majerle - 57.8 Career EWA
It is fairly obvious why Dan Majerle was so successful. The dude could shoot. As Wig always said during the late picks of the first round, “Teach your kids to shoot threes, moms and dads.” Dan was a career 37% three point shooter and that includes two years before the league started and his last two years when he was not very good. He peaked in 1994 for the Bulls, making 42% on 6 attempts per game. He was never an efficient scorer, however, as he had a penchant for chucking up midrange jumpers that he was never very good at, despite having a solid rating in that attribute.
Calling Dan a pure scorer is selling him short, however, he actually could do a little bit of everything. At his peak he had B ratings in jump shots, free throws, three pointers, handles and steals, a D in blocks but C’s everywhere else. He was super unathletic though, which is why he was forever-yellow and why he never reached the heights Tisdale did. In that great 1994 year, however, he did record a 22 PER and 15.5 EWA. Not bad for a super slow, ground-bound white dude.
Russel Gomez - 57.2 Career EWA
Gomez is a modern great yellow and completely different from the first two guys on this list. Instead of racking up stats starting on bad teams, Gomez spent pretty much his entire career as Al Horford’s backup. Only in 2021 did Gomez start a significant number of games. That year he started all 82 games, putting up 12.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, and a cool 1.7 blocks a game. Gomez actually averaged 1.7 blocks a game in 3 seasons, even though he played fewer than 25 minutes a game in two of those seasons. He advanced to the playoffs 8 seasons in a row with the Rockets and made it to the conference finals twice. He was the epitome of a team player. He had a job and he did it.
Gomez was a standard college game-generated big man. He had a B in inside scoring, B in blocking, A in offensive rebounding, a C in defensive rebounding, a B in handles (of course), a C in passing, but a D in post defense. He had a 50 in jumping and was super strong. So he always had a ceiling on him defensively but he made up for that by blocking shots and being an efficient scorer. Like I said, the game pumps out about 5 or 10 of these guys a year. I think what makes Gomez special is that he stayed with the Rockets all that time. 78 probably could have moved on to a better backup but he stuck with Gomez and Gomez rewarded him for that.
Damon Jones - 55.5 Career EWA
With an A in three point shooting and handling and a B in perimeter defense, Damon Jones had the makings of a great point guard. He only had a C in passing though and what was far more damning was his utter lack of athleticism. At his peak, when he was playing 22 minutes a game for a 62 win Magic team, he had quickness of 68, jump of 26, and strength of 49. So he was never going to be great. He could shoot the lights out though. He was a CAREER 42.5% three point shooter. He made 48% for the Warriors in 2006. He won the three-point shootout twice and Sixth Man of the Year twice. His overall efficiency suffered, however, because he was just to slow and weak and the opposite of springy to get to the basket. He put up some nice seasons, though, notching a PER over 18 five different times. He played on some really good Magic teams and was a decent contributor on a few decent playoff runs. IRL he now makes dumb comments on basketball on ESPN. I presume he will be fired by 2030 (if he isn’t already) so he probably spends most of his sim time golfing and counting money he makes from the string of Jersey Subs franchises he bought with his ESPN money back in 2025.
Edward Adorno - 39.7 Career EWA
There might be other yellow guys with higher career EWA but they were not as good at their peaks as Adorno. Adorno posted EWAs of 9.9, 8.6, and 10.4 for the Raptors from 2020 to 2022, averaging over 15 points a game in that span and putting up PERs right around 20. Given those were terrible Raptors teams, but he was only a regular starter one of those year. He just came of the bench and got the job done… on offense.... Because he didn’t really play defense or rebound or any of that other stuff. As a super athletic big, he had one job, come off the bench and mash the ball in people’s faces, and that he did. For most of his career his points per shot were right around 1.5 (elite). So, sure, Adorno’s highest rebounding rate was 10.8 (terrible for a power forward) and he only had a defensive rating below 110 his first season, but, man, he was fun to watch in garbage time.
Wayman Tisdale - 60.4 Career EWA
For us old timers, this is no surprise. Tisdale played three seasons for me when I was a youngish GM and I remember thinking how effective yellow players could be. Little did I know, I was dealing with greatest yellow player the game had ever or would ever (so far) see. Tisdale only played 8 seasons in the league, which means he averaged 7.55 EWA a year, the second best average of a yellow player and the best average for a yellow player playing more than a few years. 1991 was the magic year for Tisdale. That year he scored 25.7(!!!) points per game and hauled in 6.7 rebounds per game. He was even named to the All-Star team. He followed up this crowning achievement with Sixth Man of the Year in 1993.
What made Tisdale so great? Honestly, I have no clue. The new college draft files produce about 5 guys a year that look just like Tisdale. He had an A in inside scoring and Cs in other important places like jump shot, rebounding, post defense, and blocking. He was actually pretty weak for a big man and fairly slow. Maybe he just got plugged into the right teams at the right times. Playing next to Shawn Bradley in Portland certainly helped his defense. He was also usually on bad teams, which helped him pad his stats. He only made the playoffs twice in his career (both times with the Blazers, suprisingly). I also think that the league is just a different place now. If Tisdale played today, he probably wouldn’t rack up all that EWA. Nevertheless, tonight we honor thee, Wayman Tisdale, the greatest yellow ever.
Dan Majerle - 57.8 Career EWA
It is fairly obvious why Dan Majerle was so successful. The dude could shoot. As Wig always said during the late picks of the first round, “Teach your kids to shoot threes, moms and dads.” Dan was a career 37% three point shooter and that includes two years before the league started and his last two years when he was not very good. He peaked in 1994 for the Bulls, making 42% on 6 attempts per game. He was never an efficient scorer, however, as he had a penchant for chucking up midrange jumpers that he was never very good at, despite having a solid rating in that attribute.
Calling Dan a pure scorer is selling him short, however, he actually could do a little bit of everything. At his peak he had B ratings in jump shots, free throws, three pointers, handles and steals, a D in blocks but C’s everywhere else. He was super unathletic though, which is why he was forever-yellow and why he never reached the heights Tisdale did. In that great 1994 year, however, he did record a 22 PER and 15.5 EWA. Not bad for a super slow, ground-bound white dude.
Russel Gomez - 57.2 Career EWA
Gomez is a modern great yellow and completely different from the first two guys on this list. Instead of racking up stats starting on bad teams, Gomez spent pretty much his entire career as Al Horford’s backup. Only in 2021 did Gomez start a significant number of games. That year he started all 82 games, putting up 12.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, and a cool 1.7 blocks a game. Gomez actually averaged 1.7 blocks a game in 3 seasons, even though he played fewer than 25 minutes a game in two of those seasons. He advanced to the playoffs 8 seasons in a row with the Rockets and made it to the conference finals twice. He was the epitome of a team player. He had a job and he did it.
Gomez was a standard college game-generated big man. He had a B in inside scoring, B in blocking, A in offensive rebounding, a C in defensive rebounding, a B in handles (of course), a C in passing, but a D in post defense. He had a 50 in jumping and was super strong. So he always had a ceiling on him defensively but he made up for that by blocking shots and being an efficient scorer. Like I said, the game pumps out about 5 or 10 of these guys a year. I think what makes Gomez special is that he stayed with the Rockets all that time. 78 probably could have moved on to a better backup but he stuck with Gomez and Gomez rewarded him for that.
Damon Jones - 55.5 Career EWA
With an A in three point shooting and handling and a B in perimeter defense, Damon Jones had the makings of a great point guard. He only had a C in passing though and what was far more damning was his utter lack of athleticism. At his peak, when he was playing 22 minutes a game for a 62 win Magic team, he had quickness of 68, jump of 26, and strength of 49. So he was never going to be great. He could shoot the lights out though. He was a CAREER 42.5% three point shooter. He made 48% for the Warriors in 2006. He won the three-point shootout twice and Sixth Man of the Year twice. His overall efficiency suffered, however, because he was just to slow and weak and the opposite of springy to get to the basket. He put up some nice seasons, though, notching a PER over 18 five different times. He played on some really good Magic teams and was a decent contributor on a few decent playoff runs. IRL he now makes dumb comments on basketball on ESPN. I presume he will be fired by 2030 (if he isn’t already) so he probably spends most of his sim time golfing and counting money he makes from the string of Jersey Subs franchises he bought with his ESPN money back in 2025.
Edward Adorno - 39.7 Career EWA
There might be other yellow guys with higher career EWA but they were not as good at their peaks as Adorno. Adorno posted EWAs of 9.9, 8.6, and 10.4 for the Raptors from 2020 to 2022, averaging over 15 points a game in that span and putting up PERs right around 20. Given those were terrible Raptors teams, but he was only a regular starter one of those year. He just came of the bench and got the job done… on offense.... Because he didn’t really play defense or rebound or any of that other stuff. As a super athletic big, he had one job, come off the bench and mash the ball in people’s faces, and that he did. For most of his career his points per shot were right around 1.5 (elite). So, sure, Adorno’s highest rebounding rate was 10.8 (terrible for a power forward) and he only had a defensive rating below 110 his first season, but, man, he was fun to watch in garbage time.