nba teams with hometown players

[NovaScotian]

http://elitedaily.com/sports/this-wh...photos/663531/

excellent premise here: what if every player pulled a 'lebron' and played for his hometown team?
a lot of dukies represented in this list, including an appearance from the landlord (who of course in no longer in the league).
the charlotte team is loaded with point guards (wall, paul, curry), though i'm disappointed shavlik didn't beat out chris wilcox for the final spot.
it pains me to see the new york teams be so thin with talent - there used to be a day when new york was a hotbed for basketball stars, now its just a hotbed for overrated hs guards (marbury, telfair, shuttlesworth, stephenson).

[Native]

http://elitedaily.com/sports/this-wh...photos/663531/

excellent premise here: what if every player pulled a 'lebron' and played for his hometown team?
a lot of dukies represented in this list, including an appearance from the landlord (who of course in no longer in the league).
the charlotte team is loaded with point guards (wall, paul, curry), though i'm disappointed shavlik didn't beat out chris wilcox for the final spot.
it pains me to see the new york teams be so thin with talent - there used to be a day when new york was a hotbed for basketball stars, now its just a hotbed for overrated hs guards (marbury, telfair, shuttlesworth, stephenson).

Wow. Washington would be absolutely filthy — in a good way.

[brevity]

Good stuff. Not nearly enough geographical analysis in sports.

Observations:

1. The Hometown Hornets actually have less Tarheel content.
2. I like how the entire ATL perimeter are currently Pistons.
3. Memphis is surprisingly good. I thought Marc Gasol was a cheat, but apparently he spent his high school years in Tennessee.
4. Each Los Angeles franchise has a Lopez twin. It's like they exist solely for this hypothetical.
5. They're not listed, but I think I'd take a U.S. Virgin Islands team of Tim Duncan and Patrick Davidson over any of these. Maybe pull Raja Bell out of retirement if they needed a 3rd player.

[Henderson]

Fun post. Thanks, NS. I was surprised at the level of parity.

[gep]

This has JJ from TN. I thought he was from VA... oh well...

[Newton_14]

This has JJ from TN. I thought he was from VA... oh well...

He is and without looking I would have to believe the closest team to his hometown would be the Wizards, no? Or is Memphis actually closer? Sorry too lazy to google it at the moment.

Agree this is a great thread so thanks NS. Question to the old timers, wasn't there a time back in the day when the NBA teams had to draft players in their own pre-defined geo region or am I misremembering that? Greybeard? Anyone else know? Thanks

[El_Diablo]

JJ was born in Tennessee:

... born June 24, 1984, as Jonathan Clay Redick in Cookeville, Tenn.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=152133