Pre-2019-20 Rank: #6. Pre-2020-21 Rank: #6, Pre-2021-22 Season Rank: #6, Pre-2022-23 Season Rank: #7, Pre-2023-24 Rank: #8.

*Peak Period: 2013-14 to 2019-20.

At one time, Russell Westbrook was the master of the Triple-Double, a perennial MVP candidate (he won it in 2016-17), and proved he could lead a team deep into the playoffs.  A member of the NBA 75^th Anniversary Team, Westbrook was a nine-time All-NBA Selection, nine-time All-Star, two-time Scoring Champion, and three-time Assists Champion.  All of that equates to the Point Guard entering the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on his first shot, and it should erase any narrative that the last three years have given.

Bluntly, when Westbrook joined the Lakers in 2021, his shot-making skills did not follow, and his overall playmaking skills have eroded.  He begins this year in Denver as a reserve player on a contending team chasing the only accolade that has eluded him: an NBA Championship. 

Regardless of what happens in Los Angeles and Denver in the future, the legacy he laid out in Oklahoma City was legendary.

Pre-2019-20 Rank: #5, Pre-2020-21 Rank #5, Pre-2021-22 Rank #5, Pre-2022-23 Rank #3.  Pre-2023-24 Rank #3.

*Peak Period: 2013-14 to 2020-21.  We are giving Curry eight seasons, as he only played five Games in 2019-20.

Steph Curry moves in at #2, and the master of the three-point shot reinvented the game.  It was Curry’s style of play that taught teams that you could win NBA Championships from behind the arc, a style thought inconceivable only years before.  The all-time leader in three-pointers has four titles, ten All-Stars, and two MVPs, the perfect elixir for a first-ballot entry. 

If this were based on influence, Curry would be number one.  How fortunate are we that we still have him for years to come?

Pre-2019-20 Rank #4, Pre-2020-21 Rank: #3, Pre-2021-22 Rank: #4, Pre-2022-23 Rank: #4, Pre-2023-24 Rank: #7.

*Positional Note:  Harden plays more at Point Guard these days, but at his peak, he was more of a Shooting Guard.

*Peak Period: 2013-14 to 2019-20.

Hmmm…

James Harden has a very intriguing Hall of Fame case, though based on the bar that Springfield had set, you could argue that he has already met the requirements.

“The Beard” is a former NBA MVP and a three-time scoring champion, but he never won an NBA Title. His best years were in Houston, but he could not lead them to the Finals while he was a Rocket.  Willing his way out of Texas, he went to Brooklyn, but his reunion with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn netted nothing for either party.  Harden then joined Philadelphia, but it was the same result, as it was another super team that could not make the Finals.

Harden is currently with the Los Angeles Clippers, and with all due respect to the star, his best years are behind him.  We have seen his body of work, which is explosive scoring and lackadaisical defense, but he is a player who should quickly enter the Hall.  Harden would love to do it as an NBA Champion, but it won’t happen as a Clipper, and this won’t be his last NBA team.