Playing in an era with high-profile scorers such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, many tend to forget the skills Ben Gordon brought to the court for the Bulls in the 2000s.
It didn’t matter that Gordon stood at just 6-foot-3, his game fit the shooting guard position to a tee, resulting in immense productivity in the scoring column.
A 41.5 percent outside shooter with the Bulls, Gordon was a tremendous outside threat who could draw multiple defenders coming off screens and fire away the moment the ball touched his hands.
Like a good chunk of some of the games greatest snipers, the threat of Gordon’s outside shot opened up the rest of the floor, allowing him to attack the basket or pull up at the elbow.
Every so often, everything would go right for Gordon. His shot would fall no matter the degree of difficulty, and it led to some pretty amazing performances. Most notably, he hung 42 points in Game 2 of Chicago’s 2009 first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics.
His 18.5 points per game average with the Bulls doesn’t lead one to believe Gordon was anything more than a good scorer, but don’t get it twisted. This man put fear into the heart of his opponents. His shooting prowess led to countless demoralizing buckets, and his ability to get hot in a hurry was a sight to behold.
It’d certainly be interesting to see Gordon play in today’s 3-point heavy game, but given what he was able to accomplish early on in his career, he seemed to do just fine.