Major League Baseball's all-time home run leader Barry Bonds has never played in the NBA, but that didn't stop ESPN from running this graphic:
Barry Bonds, your all-time NBA home run leader hey wait what
I mean, it’s not wrong, if you think about it.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Most homeruns in NBA history! (h/t @ManuclearBomb) pic.twitter.com/shECXI0wT6
— Julie DiCaro (@JulieDiCaro) March 11, 2014 To be fair to ESPN, this is a technically accurate statement. No one in National Basketball Association history has ever smashed 762 homers, so if Bonds wants to lay claim to that record, there is no one to stop him.
There are a few NBA players who have managed to hit homers. Just, you know, a few hundred short of Bonds’ NBA record.
- Former Celtics' great and current Boston President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge hit two homers in three big-league seasons.
- Mark Hendrickson, despite being a pitcher, went deep once in his 10 years in the majors, following his four-year journeyman career in the NBA.
- Gene Conley, who was on three of the Celtics' eight-consecutive championship teams of the Bill Russell era, hit five homers during his 11 years with the Braves, Phillies, and Red Sox. He also attempted to escape to Israel with teammate Pumpsie Green after he was blown out by the Yankees one day in 1962. We need more Gene Conleys in sports.
- Cotton Nash and Dave DeBusscherre combined to hit zero homers in 44 career plate appearances as well as over 900 NBA games, with DeBusscherre playing nearly all of them.
- Michael Jordan stalled out in the minors in his one year there, but he did send three balls over the fence there before saving Earth from the Monstars.
There are probably some others we’ve missed, but rest assured, they did not hit 762 homers like the all-time NBA leader, Barry Bonds.
