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<p>The best 70s NCAA small forwards turned into some of the more promising players in professional basketball. Maybe you have heard of Larry Bird? Have you heard of him? Either way, here are some of the best 70s college small forwards. Take a look at this list of college small forwards from the 70s and vote up your favorites!</p><p>One can't discuss the top 1970s NCAA small forwards without bringing up Julius &quot;Dr. J&quot; Erving, or Bernard King, two of the best college SFs of the 1970s. No matter who you're into, there're plenty of options to choose from among the top 70s college small forwards! These best NCAA SFs 70s brought the goods!</p>So take a look at this list of greatest NCAA small forwards from the 70s, and vote up your favorites!

Best 70s NCAA Small Forwards | Greatest  1970s College SFs

The Best NCAA Small Forwards of the 70s

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Larry Bird

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, former coach, and former executive who most recently served as President of Basketball Operations for the Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "The Hick from French Lick," Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
Drafted into the NBA by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Bird started at small forward and power forward for the Celtics for 13 seasons. Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star and received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award three consecutive times (1984–1986). He played his entire professional career for Boston, winning three NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards. Bird was also a member of the gold-medal-winning 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team known as "The Dream Team". He was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame again in 2010 as a member of "The Dream Team".
After retiring as a player, Bird served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. He was named NBA Coach of the Year for the 1997-1998 season and later led the Pacers to a berth in the 2000 NBA Finals. In 2003, Bird was named President of Basketball Operations for the Pacers, holding the position until retiring in 2012. He was named NBA Executive of the Year for the 2012 season. Bird returned to the Pacers as President of Basketball Operations in 2013 and remained in that role until 2017.
As of 2019, Bird is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, NBA Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.

Julius Erving

Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American retired basketball player who helped popularize a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and playing above the rim.  Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA) and was the best-known player in that league when it merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1975–76 season. 
Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA's Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.  He is the eighth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA history with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined).  He was well known for slam dunking from the free throw line in slam dunk contests and was the only player voted Most Valuable Player in both the ABA and the NBA.
Erving was inducted in 1993 into the Basketball Hall of Fame and was also named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team. In 1994, Erving was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 most important athletes of all time. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.
Many consider him one of the most talented players in the history of the NBA; he is widely acknowledged as one of the game's best dunkers. While Connie Hawkins, "Jumping" Johnny Green, Elgin Baylor, Jim Pollard and Gus Johnson performed spectacular dunks before Erving's time, Erving brought the practice into the mainstream. His signature dunk was the "slam" dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game in the same manner as the "crossover" dribble and the "no look" pass. Before Erving, dunking was a practice most commonly used by the big men (usually standing close to the hoop) to show their brutal strength which was seen as style over substance, even unsportsmanlike, by many purists of the game. However, the way Erving utilized the dunk more as a high-percentage shot made at the end of maneuvers generally starting well away from the basket and not necessarily a "show of force" helped to make the shot an acceptable strategy, especially in trying to avoid a blocked shot. Although the slam dunk is still widely used as a show of power, a method of intimidation and a way to fire up a team (and spectators), Erving demonstrated that there can be great artistry and almost balletic style to slamming the ball into the hoop, particularly after a launch several feet from that target.

David Thompson

David O'Neil Thompson (born July 13, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player. He played with the Denver Nuggets of both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA. He was previously a star in college for North Carolina State, leading the Wolfpack to its first NCAA championship in 1974. Thompson is one of the six players to score 70 or more points in an NBA game. Thompson was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Thompson was known for his exceptional leaping ability that enabled him to become one of the game's premier dunkers in the 1970s, which earned him the nickname of "Skywalker". Michael Jordan said, "The whole meaning of vertical leap began with David Thompson." Bill Walton described Thompson as "Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and LeBron James rolled into one".

Bernard King

Bernard King (born December 4, 1956) is an American retired professional basketball player at the small forward position in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 14 seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Washington Bullets. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 8, 2013. His younger brother, Albert, also played in the NBA during his career.

Jamaal Wilkes

Jamaal Abdul-Lateef (born Jackson Keith Wilkes; May 2, 1953), better known as Jamaal Wilkes, nicknamed "Silk", is an American retired basketball player who played the small forward position and won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. He was a three-time NBA All-Star and the 1975 NBA Rookie of the Year. In college, Wilkes was a key player on two NCAA championship teams under coach John Wooden for the UCLA Bruins. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and his jersey No. 52 was retired by both the Lakers and the Bruins.
Wilkes converted to Islam and legally changed his name to Jamaal Abdul-Lateef in 1975, but he continued to use his birth surname only for purposes of public recognition.

Alex English

Alexander English (born January 5, 1954) is an American retired basketball player. He was most recently an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at the University of South Carolina.
Upon his arrival in Denver in 1980, English commenced an assault on the NBA scoring books. With the erratic, fast-paced, and high-scoring Nuggets, he averaged 21 points through the final 24 games of the 1979-80 season, then proceeded with averages of 24, 25, 28, 26, 28, nearly 30 (in the 1985–86 season), 29, 25, 27, and 18 points per game during his decade-long scoring spree. He also led the Nuggets to nine consecutive playoff appearances, two Midwest Division titles, and the 1985 Western Conference Finals. English set 31 team records throughout his decade in Denver, and was the leading scorer in 55% of the games he played for the Nuggets.
In total, English played 15 seasons in the NBA for four teams, averaging 21.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during his NBA career. He was named to eight NBA All-Star teams and made the All-NBA Second Team three times. His number 2 jersey was retired by the Denver Nuggets in 1992 and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.

Cedric Maxwell

Cedric Bryan Maxwell (born November 21, 1955) is an American retired professional basketball player now in radio broadcasting. Nicknamed "Cornbread", he played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and played a key role in two championships with the Boston Celtics.



Marques Johnson

Marques Kevin Johnson (born February 8, 1956) is an American retired professional basketball player. The small forward played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1977–1989, where he was a five-time All-Star. He spent the majority of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Johnson was a Los Angeles City Section player of the year in high school before attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and won a national championship in 1975.  In his senior year, he won multiple national player of the year awards. Johnson was the third overall pick in the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.  He played seven seasons with Milwaukee before finishing his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors. He is currently a basketball analyst for Fox Sports Net.

Adrian Dantley

Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1956) is an American retired basketball player who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A forward and six-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed acting head coach of the Denver Nuggets in the absence of stricken head coach George Karl.

Mark Aguirre

Mark Anthony Aguirre (born December 10, 1959) is an American retired basketball player in the National Basketball Association. Aguirre was chosen as the first overall pick of the 1981 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks after playing three years at DePaul University. Aguirre played in the NBA from 1981 until 1994 and won two championships with the Detroit Pistons after being traded to Detroit from Dallas in exchange for Adrian Dantley. Aguirre was a three-time All-Star for Dallas.

Scott May

Scott Glenn May (born March 19, 1954) is a retired American professional basketball player.

Kiki Vandeweghe

Ernest Maurice "Kiki" VanDeWeghe III (born August 1, 1958) is an American basketball executive. He serves as the Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations of the National Basketball Association (NBA). VanDeWeghe is a retired professional basketball player and was formerly the general manager of the Denver Nuggets and the New Jersey Nets, and a head coach of the Nets.
VanDeWeghe was born in Wiesbaden, West Germany, the son of former NBA player Ernie Vandeweghe and Colleen Kay Hutchins, the winner of the 1952 Miss America pageant. He is also the nephew of another NBA player, four-time All-Star Mel Hutchins. He has a niece, Coco Vandeweghe, who is a professional tennis player. VanDeWeghe and his wife Peggy have one son, Ernest Maurice VanDeWeghe IV, born in 2002.
As a player, VanDeWeghe was regarded as an excellent scorer and outside shooter, averaging 20 points for seven consecutive seasons. He was particularly known for his use of the stepback, a move he was so proficient at that it was often referred to as the "Kiki Move" toward the end of his career. VanDeWeghe's teams qualified for the NBA playoffs in 12 of his 13 seasons in the league, although none of his teams ever won the NBA championship.
For the bulk of his career, VanDeWeghe spelled his surname "Vandeweghe" (with only the V capitalized), a spelling used by his parents before their deaths, and still used by his niece who has a prominent tennis career. In 2013, he announced he was changing the spelling of his name to "VanDeWeghe", in honor of his recently departed paternal grandfather and namesake.

Kelly Tripucka

Peter Kelly Tripucka (born February 16, 1959), is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 1991.  He was a two time NBA All Star and averaged over twenty points a game in five of the ten season that he played in. Tripucka played for the Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz and was a member of the Charlotte Hornets during their inaugural season in the NBA.  The son of NFL Pro-Bowl (and CFL) quarterback Frank Tripucka, Kelly was a color analyst for the New York Knicks for four years, ending with the 2011–12 season.

Kevin Grevey

Kevin Michael Grevey (born May 12, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'5" (1.96 m) swingman, the left-handed Grevey played for the Washington Bullets from 1975–1983 and the Milwaukee Bucks from 1983–1985. He is now a color commentator for various college basketball games, including on national radio with Westwood One.

Steve Green

Steven Michael Green (born October 4, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was a 6'7" (2.00 m) and 220 lb (100 kg) small forward and played collegiately at Indiana University where he was first-year head coach Bob Knight's first recruit in 1971. He attended Silver Creek High School in Sellersburg, Indiana.

Ernie Grunfeld

Ernest Grunfeld (born April 24, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and former general manager of the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. In college at the University of Tennessee, he set a new record as the school's all-time leading scorer. He won gold medals with Team USA at the 1975 Pan American Games and the 1976 Summer Olympics. He began his professional career as a player with the Milwaukee Bucks. He served as General Manager of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association from 1989 to 1999, and as the Bucks General Manager from 1999 to 2003, and then became the president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2019.

Rodney McCray

Rodney Earl McCray (born August 29, 1961) is an American former basketball player.  A 6'7" small forward, he spent 10 seasons (1983–93) in the National Basketball Association (NBA), tallying 9,014 career points and 5,087 career rebounds.

Earl Tatum

William Earl Tatum (born July 26, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player born in [Elizabethtown, North Carolina]].  He was a 6'4½" (194 cm) 185 lb (84 kg) guard who played high school basketball at Mount Vernon, where he was selected large-school player of the year by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 1972, and collegiately at Marquette University.
Tatum was selected with the 4th pick of the second round in the 1976 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He played for five teams in 4 years, his final season spent with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1979–80.

Jack Givens

Jack "Goose" Givens (born September 21, 1956) is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player. Givens led the University of Kentucky to the 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and was named that year's Final Four Most Outstanding Player due in most part to his 41-point performance in Kentucky's 94-88 victory over Duke University in the championship game. He was a 6'5" (1.96 m), 205 lb (93 kg) forward.

Rudy Tomjanovich

Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. (born November 24, 1948) is an American retired basketball player and coach who lead the Houston Rockets to two consecutive NBA championships. He was an All-Star forward for the Rockets during his playing career.

Tom Chambers

Thomas Doane Chambers (born June 21, 1959) is an American retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Having a strong shot along with high-flying dunks, Chambers played professionally from 1981 to 1997. At 6'10", he played at the power forward position as a professional, and was selected to four NBA All-Star Games as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics and the Phoenix Suns.
Chambers is one of two players, along Antawn Jamison, with 20,000 or more career points eligible,  but not elected to, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Cliff Robinson

Clifford Trent Robinson (born March 13, 1960) is a retired American professional basketball player.

Junior Bridgeman

Ulysses Lee "Junior" Bridgeman (born September 17, 1953) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player.



Phil Sellers

Phillip Sellers, Jr. (born November 20, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA.

Doug Collins

Paul Douglas Collins (born July 28, 1951) is an American basketball executive, former player, coach and television analyst in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA from 1973 to 1981 for the Philadelphia 76ers, earning four NBA All-Star selections. He then became an NBA coach in 1986, and had stints coaching the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers. Collins also served as an analyst for various NBA-related broadcast shows. He is a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award.

The best 70s NCAA small forwards turned into some of the more promising players in professional basketball. Maybe you have heard of Larry Bird? Have you heard ...