Ranking The Best All-Time NBA Arkansans in Each Major Statistical Category

On Thursday, Hunter Mickelson announced plans to transfer from the Arkansas basketball program to Kansas. This move was motivated by a desire to find a program that a) served as a better fit for his style of play b) provided a change of scenery and coaching staff that will motivate his game to progress instead of regress like it did last year.

The ultimate goal, of course, is the NBA. Kansas coaches do "really well with their post guys," Mickelson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Bob Holt. "They put a lot of post guys in the NBA, and that's where I want to be."

It's the same goal incoming twin towers Bobby Portis and Moses Kingsley have. As well as pretty much any other high schooler who finds himself listed among the Top 100 players nationwide.

The silver lining for Hog fans is that even if it's the Kansas coaches who are ultimately responsible for developing Mickelson into a bonafide NBA prospect, his name will still help the Hogs' in recruiting. This program, like all major programs, flaunts the number of players it has sent to the big league (even those who leave in the not-best of circumstances) to convince recruits they don't have to go to Kentucky or Duke to make their pro dreams come true.

The Razorbacks, unsurprisingly, have produced the most NBA players of any college program in Arkansas.

I thought it would be interesting to see how these players stacked up against each other in terms of career NBA numbers. I made this particularly jambalaya even more spicy by throwing all native Arkansans into the mix. The end result: a list of the top eight NBA Arkansans in 11 statistical categories.

You'll notice plenty of Razorbacks in these rankings, along with much more obscure NBA "Arkansans":

Points (as of 4/21/13)

Steals - This, by far, is the category in which NBA Arkansans excel the most. Three of the top 12 ball thieves in NBA history rep Arkansas by birthplace (Lever), college (Robertson) or both (Pippen).

For background on Lever, Carroll and Conley, as well as more all-time rankings in other categories, visit thesportsseer.com.

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