The Wolfpacker's NC State All-NBA team

When there are no games to watch, the sports world gets creative.

Beyond COVID-19 news, Twitter timelines are overflowing with fantasy brackets and endless G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) debates. While the action is on halt, hypotheticals help the time pass and fill the daily growing void in the lives of sports junkies.

With over a century of NC State basketball in the past, and hopefully many more centuries of Pack hoops in the future, the pause in sports offers a grand opportunity for reflection.

The honored jerseys that hang from the rafters of PNC Arena celebrate the individuals with the best careers at NC State, but what about those who shined at the next level?

What if you could make a roster composed of the best that NC State sent to the NBA?

We took a deep dive into the professional careers of former NC State players that considered statistics, longevity in the league and individual skill sets to determine the All-Wolfpack NBA roster.

Here is the starting five. On Monday, we will reveal the reserves and head coach.

Thompson is the best player in NC State history and would be the headliner of the Wolfpack All-NBA team in his prime.

Although he’s most remembered as one of the best college players of all time, Thompson was one of pro basketball’s superstars in the late seventies. He was the first overall pick in both the NBA and ABA drafts in 1975, one year before the leagues merged.

Thompson began his career in the ABA with the Denver Nuggets, where he won Rookie of the Year, was selected to the All-ABA Second Team and finished runner-up to Julius “Dr. J” Erving in the first-ever Slam-Dunk competition in 1976.

After the Nuggets joined the NBA entering his second professional season, Thompson earned First Team All-NBA honors in 1977 and 1978. He was a four-time All-Star and was the All-Star Game MVP in 1979.

Thompson averaged 22.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game over his nine-year professional career.

He finished five of his first six seasons averaging at least 24 points per game, the lone exception being the 1979-80 campaign in which Thompson suffered a foot injury.

Although Thompson had a strong season the following year, the injury was the beginning of the end. He spent his last two seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics before a knee injury and drug issues caused him to retire in 1984 at age 29.

Nicknamed “Skywalker,” Thompson was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.

According to NBA 2K20, Thompson is rated a 95 overall as a member of the All-Time Denver Nuggets. To put the score in perspective, other notable players such as Penny Hardaway, “Pistol” Pete Maravich and Vince Carter also earned a 95 rating.

Gugliotta was drafted sixth overall by the Washington Bullets in the 1992 NBA Draft, and went on to earn All-Rookie honors after averaging 14.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

Gugliotta played three years in Washington, and then moved on in a trade to the Golden State Warriors for Chris Webber in 1994-95. He played his one year in Golden State, four seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, six seasons with the Phoenix Suns and made brief appearances in Utah, Boston and Atlanta before retiring in 2005.

His best season came in 1997, when he was selected as an All-Star as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Gugliotta averaged 13 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in his 13-year NBA career.

According to NBA 2K20, Gugliotta is rated an 87 overall as a member of the All-Time Minnesota Timberwolves.

There is no former Wolfpack basketball player that played in more NBA games than Bailey.

After winning the 1983 National Championship at NC State, Bailey entered the NBA Draft where he was selected seventh overall to the Utah Jazz. He would earn a spot on the NBA All-Rookie team in 1984.

Initially a starter in his first two seasons, Bailey quickly became one of the strongest bench players in the NBA after the Jazz drafted Karl Malone in 1985. He might not have started, but he finished games and rarely ever missed one. His breakout season was when he averaged 19.6 points, 6.5 reobunds and 1.5 blocks in 34.2 minutes off the bench in 1987-88.

Bailey spent nine years with the Jazz until he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1991. After three years with the Timberwolves, Bailey played in Europe for four years before returning to Utah for one season where he retired in 1999 at age 37.

In 928 games over 12 seasons in the NBA, Bailey averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

According to NBA 2K20, Bailey is rated an 85 overall as a member of the All-Time Utah Jazz.

Warren is the most recent to play in a Wolfpack uniform of the starting five, but there is no recency bias here. Behind Thompson, Warren has the second-highest points per game average in the NBA among former NC State players.

Now an Indiana Pacer, Warren spent his first five years with the Phoenix Suns who selected him 14th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft.

He started in all 62 games for the Pacers in the 2019-20 season before it was suspended in March due to COVID-19 concerns and was averaging 18.7 points per contest at that point.

Warren is known for his scoring ability in the league just as he was in the ACC. He currently averages 15.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game through six seasons, and he has had an average of at least 18.0 points a contest each of the last three campaigns.

According to NBA 2K20, Warren is rated an 82 overall. The rating is tied for 10th best in today’s NBA among small forwards.

Known as “Mr. Sonic,” McMillan spent his entire 12-year playing career with the Seattle SuperSonics, followed by a seven-year coaching stint with the team after his retirement as a player.

McMillan has either played for or coached an NBA team for the last 34 years and is currently T.J. Warren’s head coach with the Indiana Pacers.

A Raleigh native and alumnus of Enloe High School, McMillan was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft.

In his first pro season, he racked up 25 assists in one game which still shares the NBA record for most assists in a single game by a rookie.

McMillan was equally stingy on defense as he was an effective distributor. He led the NBA in steals in 1994 and earned back-to-back All-Defensive second-team honors in 1994 and 1995.

McMillan finished his career averaging 5.9 points, 6.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game and had four triple doubles. His steals average ranks 13th all-time in league history.

McMillan's No. 10 jersey was retired by Seattle in 1999. The franchise has since become the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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