Today’s OKC Thunder and Their Historic NBA Counterparts

#12 – Current Thunder Player – Mitch McGary

Jake’s Historic Counterpart – Dave Cowens 

Stats per 36 minutes:

This may be more wishful thinking than anything seeing as Dave Cowens is a Celtic legend but his play style lines up nearly perfectly with McGary’s. Both guys are undersized posts that still manage to garner astounding success by hustling more than anyone else. Granted, Cowens probably represents the ceiling of where playing hard can get someone (given that he won MVP in 1973 and became a Hall of Famer in 1990) but his self-affirmed mantra of “out-work everyone” still has merit in today’s day and age.

Perhaps no player in the NBA more accurately represents that belief than Mitch Run-Through-a-Wall-Because-My-Coach-Asked-Me-To McGary. I’m not sure that McGary is nearly the defender or rebounder that Cowens ever was but it’s nice to dream isn’t it?

Next: #11 - The Throwback Sharpshooter