Sports debate! Which player from a New Mexico college has had the best NBA career?

New Mexico State Aggie Pascal Siakam has helped lead the Indiana Pacers into the NBA Finals, which begin Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

With one NBA title under his belt, three all-star appearances, and already easily north of $100 million in career contract earnings as pro, the 6-foot-8 forward has certainly catapulted himself into this debate: Which player from a New Mexico college has had the best NBA career.

On one hand, Siakam is still building his résumé while already lapping the field in career earnings (he's making more than $42 million this year alone).

On the other hand, UNM can boast two former Lobos who have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in five-time champion Michael Cooper and Mel Daniels, who actually has his jersey retired by the same Pacers team Siakam is now playing for.

The debate, naturally, can be formed however one wants to form it based on the stats that make their guy look the best. It's not a battle that will ever have a right answer, but why should that stop us?

Let's hear it: Which player from a New Mexico college has had the best NBA career (not what they did in college)? Let us know who'd you pick and why in an email to sports@abqjournal.com.

Here are six finalists — three Lobos and three Aggies — with a list of honorable mentions.

For my money, Daniels is the pick here. But what do I know? I'm the Aggie grad covering the Lobos who is dumb enough to start this argument in the first place.

• • •

New Mexico's best

Best NBA careers from players who hail from New Mexico colleges (alphabetical):

Michael Cooper

6-foot-7 forward

UNM Lobos: 1976-78

Draft: 1978 (NBA third round, 60th overall, Los Angeles Lakers)

Professional: 12 seasons — Los Angeles Lakers

Notes: 2024 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; No. 21 retired by Los Angeles Lakers; 5 NBA championships; 5 NBA All-Defense First Team; NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1987)

Career averages: 8.9 points, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals

Mel Daniels

6-foot-9 forward/center

UNM Lobos: 1964-67

Draft: 1967 (NBA first round, ninth overall, Cincinnati Royals; ABA first round, Minnesota Muskies)

Professional: Nine seasons — Minnesota Muskies (ABA), Indiana Pacers (ABA), Memphis Sounds (ABA), New York Nets (NBA)

Notes: 2012 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; No. 34 retired by Pacers; 3 ABA championships; 2 ABA MVPs; ABA Rookie of the Year; 7 ABA All-Star

Career averages: 18.5 points, 14.9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks

Danny Granger

6-foot-9 forward

UNM Lobos: 2003-05

Draft: 2005 (NBA first round, 17th overall, Indiana Pacers)

Professional: 10 seasons — Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat

Notes: NBA All-Star (2009); NBA Most Improved (2009); Team USA FIBA World Championship gold medalist (2010); Averaged 25.7 points per game in 2009

Career averages: 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.0 steals

Sam Lacey

6-foot-9 forward/center

NMSU Aggies: 1967-70

Draft: 1970 (NBA first round, fifth overall, Cincinnati Royals)

Professional: 13 seasons — Cincinnati Royals, Kansas City Kings, New Jersey Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers

Notes: NBA All-Star (1975); No. 44 retired by Sacramento Kings; Averaged a double-double over his first six NBA seasons; One of only five NBA players to have 100 blocks and 100 steals in six consecutive seasons (Hakeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, David Robinson, Ben Wallace).

Career averages: 10.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.3 steals

Pascal Siakam

6-foot-8 forward

NMSU Aggies: 2014-16

Draft: 2016 (NBA first round, 27th overall, Toronto Raptors)

Professional: Nine seasons — Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers

Notes: NBA champion (2019); NBA Finals appearance (2025); Eastern Conference Finals MVP (2025); 3-time NBA All-Star; NBA Most Improved Player (2019); NBA D-League Champion (2017)

Career averages: 18.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists

John Williamson

6-foot-2 guard

NMSU Aggies: 1971-73

Draft: 1973 (NBA sixth round, 96th overall, Atlanta Hawks)

Professional: Eight seasons — New York Nets (ABA), Indiana Pacers (NBA), New Jersey Nets (NBA), Washington Bullets (NBA)

Notes: 2 ABA championships; No. 23 retired by New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets); Started alongside Julius Erving as a rookie and the two led the Nets to NBA title; Averaged 29.5 points over 33 games for the Nets in 1978; When with the Nets, he had a 50-point game on April 4, 1978, at Indiana.

Career averages: 17.5 points

Honorable mention

Again, there are a lot of ways to judge great pro careers. And in this state, in the world of Aggies and Lobos, nobody will like me for the guys I'm leaving off, I'm sure. But here we go with the close calls but, for a variety of reasons, didn't make the top six above.

Alphabetical: Randy Brown, NMSU; Charlie Criss, NMSU; Avery Johnson, New Mexico Junior College; Luc Longley, UNM Lobos; Tony Snell, UNM Lobos; Kenny Thomas, UNM Lobos.