Who are the 10 best North Carolina basketball players of all time?

North Carolina–Duke. The Tobacco Road Rivalry. 

It’s one of the most intense and storied matchups in all of men’s college basketball, and it’s set for a rematch in Chapel Hill on Saturday evening.

For the Tar Heels, this game offers a chance to bolster their résumé as they fight to get off the bubble. On the other side, the Blue Devils can use the game to prove they deserve the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Regardless of where these two teams sit in the standings for this season, history courses through Dean E. Smith Center — as it does every time these powerhouse programs meet. 

That said, here are the 10 best North Carolina basketball players of all time (combining both college and NBA careers):

10 best North Carolina basketball players of all time

10. Ty Lawson

Lawson averaged 13.1 points and 5.8 assists over three years with UNC, setting up fellow Tar Heel great Tyler Hansbrough time after time. Lawson was the floor general during UNC’s 2009 championship run, which included a vintage performance (21 points, six assists and a career-high eight steals) when it mattered most — the team’s 89-72 championship win over Michigan State. That same year, he also had a season-high 25 points in UNC’s 101-87 win over Duke. Lawson went on to have an eight-year NBA career, most notably playing six seasons for the Denver Nuggets. He finished third in the NBA in assists per game in back-to-back seasons in 2014 (8.8) and 2015 (9.6).

9. Rasheed Wallace

The bruising center who often dissuaded players from attempting drives to the basket got his start at UNC. In his sophomore season, he was tied for third in the ACC in blocks per game (2.7), behind Maryland‘s Joe Smith (2.9) and Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan (4.2). He threw down dunk after dunk, scoring 25 points against Duke in a 1995 rivalry game that the Tar Heels won in overtime, 102-100. UNC made a Final Four run in his sophomore season that ended with a 75-68 loss to Arkansas. Wallace played 16 seasons in the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons, as well as one-year stints with the Washington Bullets, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. He won an NBA championship with the Pistons in 2004.

8. Bob McAdoo

McAdoo played just one season at UNC but was an All-American and averaged a double-double (19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds). McAdoo’s decision to be a one-and-done was sound, as he won Rookie of the Year in 1973 with the Buffalo Braves and continuously ascended from that point. He finished second in NBA MVP voting in his second season and won the award the following year. In that 1974-75 season, he averaged a league-high 34.5 points and 14.1 rebounds per game. In five seasons with the Braves, though, McAdoo never made it out of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

[Related: What if one-and-done always existed? Where Kobe, LeBron, more would have gone]

7. Jerry Stackhouse

Stackhouse was Wallace’s sidekick in the Tar Heels’ 1995 Final Four appearance. He played two seasons like Wallace did, averaging 19.2 points per game and 8.2 rebounds. Stackhouse earned first-team All-American recognition in his sophomore season before being drafted third overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. He had an 18-year career, peaking in 2001 when he averaged 29.8 points per game for the Pistons. Detroit went 32-50 that season, however, and Stackhouse was traded after the following season to the Wizards in a deal that involved Richard Hamilton. 

6. Antawn Jamison

Jamison won the John R. Wooden Award and earned Naismith Player of the Year honors in his junior season as he led the Tar Heels to a Final Four berth. They ultimately lost 65-59 to Utah, but Jamison certainly left his mark. He scored 35 points against top-ranked Duke to help UNC win the ACC Tournament title game. In 1998, the Toronto Raptors drafted Jamison with the fourth overall pick before trading him to the Golden State Warriors for his Tar Heels’ partner, Vince Carter. Jamison played six seasons for the Warriors, averaging a career-high 24.9 points in his third year. He was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year in his one season in Dallas and was a two-time All-Star. 

5. Sam Perkins

Perkins is often the forgotten part of the famous Tar Heels’ Big 3, which included Michael Jordan and James Worthy. That trio won an NCAA championship in 1982, with Perkins leading the team in rebounding (7.8 per game). In UNC’s 68-63 Final Four win over Houston, Perkins had a team-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. He played all four years, earning first-time All-American honors in his junior and senior seasons. He played 16 NBA seasons, spending time with the Dallas Mavericks (five seasons), Los Angeles Lakers (two), Seattle Supersonics (six) and Indiana Pacers (three).

4. Vince Carter

Carter complemented Jamison as their three seasons at UNC aligned. In his junior season, Carter led the NCAA in field-goal percentage (59.1) before being drafted fifth overall by the Warriors and then immediately being traded to Toronto, ironically, for Jamison. The Raptors seemingly won the trade, as Carter earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 1999. He was an All-Star the next six seasons, but Toronto struggled, missing the playoffs four of those six seasons. Carter is famous for his high-flying dunks that helped him win the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, but he reshaped himself as an additive role player throughout the latter part of his career. 

3. James Worthy

Worthy was the leading scorer on UNC’s 1982 title team. He scored 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting in the Tar Heels’ 63-62 championship win over Georgetown. Worthy also helped mentor then-freshman phenom Michael Jordan into a bona fide UNC legend. Despite being a consistent contender throughout the early 1980s, the Lakers ended up with the first overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft thanks to a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the prior season. They selected Worthy, and he quickly became a complementary piece to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as the Lakers won three championships in four years (1985, 1987 and 1988). 

2. Tyler Hansbrough

Hansbrough arguably accomplished the most of any UNC player during his four years in Chapel Hill. He won a championship in 2009, the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year awards in 2008 and was a four-time All-American selection. Hansbrough averaged 20.6 points and 8.6 rebounds over four seasons and had one of the most iconic celebrations in UNC history, pumping his fists in glee after hitting a last-second game-sealing jump shot against Virginia Tech in the 2009 ACC Tournament. His game didn’t translate to success in the NBA, however, as he started just 50 games across seven seasons with three different teams. His best year was his second season in the league when he averaged 11.0 points and 5.2 rebounds with the Pacers.

1. Michael Jordan

Jordan’s left-wing mid-range jump shot to lift UNC over Georgetown in the 1982 NCAA title game will be remembered by Tar Heels’ fans forever. Along with his championship, he went on to earn the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year awards in his junior season (1984) before the Chicago Bulls drafted him third overall. Jordan might have fallen into the Bulls’ lap, as the Houston Rockets selected Hakeem Olajuwon and the Portland Trail Blazers took Sam Bowie ahead of him. Regardless, it was the best decision the Bulls ever made, as Jordan brought six championships to the franchise to solidify himself as one of the best players the NBA has ever seen. 

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