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1990s

Small forward is arguably the most challenging positions in all of basketball. Requiring the speed of a shooting guard with the power of a power forward. It requires brains and brawn in order to become one of the greats.&nbsp;When you're looking for the best 90s small forwards, this list is the right one to be looking through! Vote for your favorites on this list of the greatest NBA small forwards from the 90s! Don't think they belong among the top 90s NBA small forwards? Vote them down!&nbsp;When thinking about the top 1990s small forwards, Scottie Pippen has to be in the conversation. Also among the best 90s NBA SFs are Grant Hill and Dominique Wilkins, who played small forward for their entire careers. This list of the best NBA SFs 90s will have everyone you're thinking of! And if not, add them!So take a look at this list of best NBA small forwards 90s and vote for your favorites, then check out some of our other sports lists to see how your faves stack up!&nbsp;

Best 90s Small Forwards | Greatest  1990s NBA SFs

The Best Small Forwards of the 90s

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Scottie Pippen

Scotty Maurice Pippen (born September 25, 1965), commonly spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls into a championship team and in popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s.Considered one of the greatest small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight consecutive times and the All-NBA First Team three times. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season, and is one of four players to have his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls (the others being Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, and Michael Jordan). He played a main role on both the 1992 Chicago Bulls Championship team and the 1996 Chicago Bulls Championship team which were selected as two of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History. His biography on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's website states, "The multidimensional Pippen ran the court like a point guard, attacked the boards like a power forward, and swished the nets like a shooting guard." During his 17-year career, he played 12 seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, making the postseason sixteen straight times.
Pippen is the only NBA player to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice (1992, 1996). He was a part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" which beat its opponents by an average of 44 points. Pippen was also a key figure in the 1996 Olympic team, alongside former Dream Team members Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Charles Barkley as well as newer faces such as Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Grant Hill. He wore number 8 during both years.
Pippen is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (for his individual career, and as a member of the "Dream Team"), having been inducted for both on August 13, 2010. On December 8, 2005, the Chicago Bulls retired his number #33, while his college, University of Central Arkansas, retired his number #33 on January 21, 2010, as well.

Grant Hill

Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is a former American professional basketball player and current Hudl videographer for Orlando City SC. He is also currently a host of NBA TV's NBA Inside Stuff. Hill played for four teams in his professional career in the National Basketball Association (NBA); the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, and Los Angeles Clippers.
Hill's parents are retired NFL Pro Bowl running back Calvin Hill and Janet Hill. He and his father were Rookies of the Year in their respective sports; Hill in the NBA in 1995 (shared with Jason Kidd), and his father in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys in 1969.
While playing college basketball at Duke, he was the 1994 ACC Player of the Year, a two-time NCAA All-American, and a two-time NCAA champion.  As a professional he was the 1995 NBA co-Rookie of the Year, and was a seven-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, and three-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award. He is also a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Throughout his college career and early in his years with the Detroit Pistons, Hill was widely considered to be one of the best all-around players in the game, often leading his team in points, rebounds and assists. Touted as one of the best players in Duke history, many went as far as to say that he was one of the greatest collegiate basketball players in his era. After his first six seasons with the Pistons, in which he averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists, his next twelve seasons were mostly injury plagued, as he averaged just 13.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. On June 1, 2013, after 19 years in the league, Hill announced his retirement from the NBA. Hill and Tony Ressler officially purchased the Atlanta Hawks on June 24, 2015 for an estimated $730 million–850 million.

Dominique Wilkins

Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is an American retired professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and is widely viewed as one of the best dunkers in NBA history, earning the nickname "The Human Highlight Film". In 2006, Wilkins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
In addition to his eleven seasons with the Hawks, Wilkins had short stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Boston Celtics, Panathinaikos Athens (a professional team in Greece's top-tier level Greek Basket League, with whom he won his first titles, the FIBA European League and the Greek Cup), Fortitudo Bologna (a professional team in Italy's top-tier level LBA), the San Antonio Spurs, and the Orlando Magic before he retired in 1999.

Chris Mullin

Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player and former head coach of the St. John's Red Storm. He previously served as special advisor for the Sacramento Kings and general manager of the Golden State Warriors. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"), and in 2011 for his individual career).
Mullin played shooting guard and small forward in the NBA from 1985 to 2001. During his playing time at St. John's University, he was named Big East Player of the Year three times and was a member of the 1984 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball team, Mullin was chosen as the seventh pick by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft.  He returned to the Olympics in 1992 as a member of the "Dream Team", which was the first American Olympic basketball team to include professional players.
He played with the Warriors from the 1985–86 until the 1996–97 season. Thereafter, Mullin played with the Indiana Pacers from 1997 until the 1999–2000 season. He retired after the 2000–01 season, playing for his original team, the Warriors.
On March 30, 2015, he was named 20th head coach of the St. John's University men's basketball team, his alma mater. On April 9, 2019 he stepped down as the head coach of the St. John's University men's basketball team.



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.

Glen Rice

Glen Anthony Rice, Sr. (born May 28, 1967) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6'8" guard/forward, Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star, and made 1,559 three-point field goals during his 15-year career. Rice won both an NCAA championship and NBA championship during his collegiate and professional career. In recent years, Rice has taken up MMA fight promotion as owner of G-Force Fights based in Miami, Florida.

Detlef Schrempf

Detlef Schrempf (born 21 January 1963) is a German-American retired professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies from 1981 to 1985, and was drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft, with the eighth overall pick. He was an All-NBA Third Team member in 1995, a three-time NBA All-Star and the NBA Sixth Man of the Year twice.
Schrempf played in the NBA for sixteen seasons, including stints with the Indiana Pacers, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Portland Trail Blazers. In 1996, he reached the NBA Finals with the SuperSonics. He played for the West German, and later German, national team in the 1984 and 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1983 and 1985 EuroBasket championships.

Glenn Robinson

Glenn Alan Robinson Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed Big Dog, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1994 to 2005 for the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs. Robinson attended Purdue University, was the first overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, and is the father of Glenn Robinson III, who played college basketball at the University of Michigan and plays in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors.

James Worthy

James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently a commentator, television host, and analyst. Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, "Big Game James" was a seven-time NBA All-Star, three-time NBA champion, and the 1988 NBA Finals MVP with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
A standout at the University of North Carolina, the 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) small forward shared College Player of the Year honors en route to leading the Tar Heels to the 1982 NCAA Championship.  Named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, he was No. 1 pick of the 1982 NBA draft of the defending NBA champion Lakers.

Jamal Mashburn

Jamal Mashburn (born November 29, 1972) is a retired American professional basketball player. Nicknamed the "Monster Mash," Mashburn was a prolific scorer as a small forward in his 12 seasons in the league, with a career scoring average of 19.1 points per game.

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.

Sean Elliott

Sean Michael Elliott (born February 2, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who starred at small forward in both the college and professional ranks.  He attended the University of Arizona, where he had a standout career as a two-time All-American, winner of the 1989 John R. Wooden Award, the 1989 Adolph Rupp Trophy, the 1989 NABC Player of the Year, 1989 AP Player of the Year, and two time Pac-12 Player of the Year (in 1988–1989).
He was the third pick of the 1989 NBA draft, was named to the 1990 NBA All-Rookie Second Team, was a two-time NBA All-Star, and earned an NBA championship in 1999.
His #32 is retired by both the University of Arizona and the San Antonio Spurs.

Toni Kukoč

Toni Kukoč (pronounced [kukotʃ]; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian retired professional basketball player who is currently Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of the first established European stars to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1996.
Kukoč was renowned for his versatility and passing ability; although his natural position was small forward, he played all five positions on the court with prowess and demonstrated court vision and an outside shooting touch that were found seldom in players of his height. Together with Vassilis Spanoulis, they are the only players in history to achieve the EuroLeague Final Four MVP honor on three occasions. He was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017.

Cedric Ceballos

Cedric Ceballos (August 2, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. As a small forward, he played mostly for the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers, later finishing his National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat.

Robert Horry

Robert Keith Horry (; born August 25, 1970) is an American retired basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning seven championships, the most of any player not to have played on the 1960s Boston Celtics. He is one of only two players (the other is John Salley) to have won NBA championships with three teams: two with the Houston Rockets, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and two with the San Antonio Spurs.  He earned the nickname Big Shot Bob because of his clutch shooting in important games; he is widely considered to be one of the greatest clutch performers and winners in NBA history. Horry now works as a commentator on Spectrum SportsNet.

Charles Barkley

Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on Inside the NBA. Nicknamed Chuck, Sir Charles, Street Beef, and The Round Mound of Rebound, Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominant power forwards. An All-American power forward at Auburn University, he was drafted as a junior by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA draft. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993 with the Phoenix Suns, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player, and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' "Dream Team". Barkley is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2006 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team".Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league. He was frequently involved in on- and off-court fights and sometimes stirred national controversy, as in March 1991 when he spat on a young girl while attempting to spit at a heckler, and as in 1993 when he declared that sports figures should not be considered role models. Though shorter than the typical power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA's most dominant rebounders. He was a versatile player who had the ability to score, create plays, and defend. In 2000, he retired as the fourth player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.Since retiring as a player, Barkley has had a successful career as an NBA analyst. He works with Turner Network Television (TNT) alongside of Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson as a studio pundit for its coverage of NBA games and is a spokesman for CDW. In addition, Barkley has written several books and has shown an interest in politics. In October 2008, he announced that he would run for Governor of Alabama in 2014, but he changed his mind in 2010.

Paul Pierce

Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently an analyst on ESPN's NBA Countdown.
Pierce was a high school McDonald's All-American and earned consensus first-team All-America honors in his junior year at Kansas. After being chosen by the Boston Celtics with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, Pierce spent the first 15 years of his career with Boston. Pierce's nickname, "The Truth", was given to him by Shaquille O'Neal in March 2001. He starred as captain of the Celtics, earning 10 All-Star selections and becoming a four-time All-NBA team member. Pierce combined with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in 2007 to form a "Big Three" that led Boston to two NBA Finals and an NBA championship in 2008. Pierce was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 2008. Along with Larry Bird and John Havlicek, Pierce is one of only three players to have scored more than 20,000 career points with the Celtics. 
In July 2013, Pierce was traded to the Brooklyn Nets along with teammates Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. He signed with the Washington Wizards as a free agent in 2014. After one season with the Wizards, Pierce reunited with former Celtics coach Doc Rivers and signed with the Clippers. He spent two seasons with the Clippers before retiring in 2017. On July 17, 2017, the Celtics signed Pierce to a contract, enabling him to retire as a member of the organization with which he spent his first 15 NBA seasons.

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.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American former professional basketball player and the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." He was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean Smith with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick. He quickly emerged as a league star and entertained crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames Air Jordan and His Airness. He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season, and started a new career in Minor League Baseball, he returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three additional championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in January 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.
Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten scoring titles (both all-time records), five MVP Awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections, three All-Star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press' list of athletes of the century. Jordan is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, having been enshrined in 2009 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as part of the group induction of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jordan is also known for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1984 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred as himself in the 1996 film Space Jam. In 2006, he became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), and bought a controlling interest in 2010. In 2014, Jordan became the first billionaire player in NBA history. He is the third-richest African-American, behind Robert F. Smith and Oprah Winfrey.

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.

Derrick McKey

Derrick Wayne McKey (born October 10, 1966) is an American retired basketball player who played most of his National Basketball Association (NBA) career at the small forward and the power forward positions.

Bryon Russell

Bryon Demetrise Russell (born December 31, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player from San Bernardino, California.  During a National Basketball Association (NBA) career that spanned from 1993 to 2006, he played for the Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers and was a key member of the Utah Jazz, helping them reach back-to-back NBA finals appearances in 1997 and 1998. He was also a part of the Seattle SuperSonics roster for a brief time but never appeared in a game for them. Russell had his best season with the Jazz in the 1999–2000 season, when he averaged 14.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. From 1997 to 2000, he played in every regular-season game.
Russell's alma mater, Long Beach State University, retired his jersey in 2010.

Small forward is arguably the most challenging positions in all of basketball. Requiring the speed of a shooting guard with the power of a power forward. It ...