Washington Wizards: 30 greatest players in franchise history
. PG. (1996-01). Rod Strickland. 13. player. 142
Before there was John Wall, there was point guard Rod Strickland. Strickland was an All-Rookie second-team performer when he arrived in the NBA with the New York Knicks in the 1988-89 season.
As a rookie, he averaged 8.9 points, 3.9 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest. He had stints with the San Antonio Spurs (1989-92 and Portland Trail Blazers (1992-96) before arriving to the Bullets during the 1996-97 season via trade.
Strickland became the point guard of the future upon his arrival, putting up 17.2 points, 8.9 assists 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest. The following season, he led the league in assists (801) and assists per game (10.5), taking home the assists champion at the same time.
Strickland earned Second-Team All-NBA honors in 1997-98, while also averaging 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. He matched his career-high 20 assists on Feb. 10, 1998 in 99-87 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
While his teammate Tracy Murray went for 50 points, he recorded a triple-double with 21 points, 20 assists and 12 rebounds, Strickland recorded 42 double-doubles and three triple-doubles that season.
He wasn’t the greatest shooter, but he had the innate ability to get to the basket while also getting his teammates involved. The 6-foot-3 guard currently ranks third all-time in franchise history in assists (2,712) and eighth all-time in steals (482). Strickland is the only other player in franchise history to record 20 assists in a game alongside currently Wizards’ star John Wall.