Forward-Center

Patrick Ewing

Forward–center is a basketball position for players who play or have played both forward and center on a consistent basis. Typically, this means power forward and center, since these are usually the two biggest player positions on any basketball team, and therefore more often overlap each other.

Forward–center came into the basketball jargon as the game evolved and became more specialized in the 1960s. In fact, the five positions on court were originally known only as guard, forward and center, but it is now generally accepted that the five primary positions are point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center.

Typically, a forward–center is a talented forward who also came to play minutes at center on teams that needed help at that position. Or the player could be a somewhat floor-bound center, under seven feet tall at the NBA level, whose skills also suit him to a power forward position, especially if that team has a better center. One such player is Marcus Camby of the Portland Trail Blazers. At 6'11" in height, he generally plays the position of center, but when he played for the New York Knicks earlier in his career, he mostly played power forward due to his team having one of the better pure centers in the league in Patrick Ewing. Ewing himself was used as a forward–center early in his career to use his offensive game to complement the then-incumbent Knicks center Bill Cartwright. Ralph Sampson was another notable forward–center during that time who played center his rookie year in 1983. In 1984, at 7 feet 4 inches, he moved to power forward when Hakeem Olajuwon was drafted that year.