A two-time ICC (Indiana Collegiate Conference) Player of the Year when he was an Evansville Purple Ace, Jerry Sloan's professional career began with the Baltimore Bullets, but would only last there one year.  This was not due to a lack of skill, but rather because the Chicago Bulls were formed, and Sloan was taken in the 1966 Expansion Draft.

In terms of Hall of Fame tragedy, this might be the worst that we can think of, especially with 2020.  It was announced today that Dick Allen, passed away today at age 78.

Dick Allen was an offensive star in Baseball’s deadball era, winning the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year with Philadelphia in 1964.  The power hitter would become a seven-time All-Star and as a member of the Chicago White Sox, he was named the American League MVP in 1972.  With the ChiSox, he was a two-time Home Run leader.

Allen had his issues with the baseball media, but following his career, he was on the Hall of Fame ballot for the full fifteen years, but failed to gain induction.

On August 13 of this year, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that they would be retiring his number.  We here at Notinhalloffame.com speculated that it was to assist Allen in getting into the Baseball Hall, as he would be eligible for this year’s Veteran’s Committee. There was a lot of hope that this could be his year.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the fans, friends and family of Dick Allen at this time.

We all know that the San Francisco 49ers have given us multiple Hall of Famers and won several Super Bowls.  Despite that, there is no other man that could be debated as the greatest 49er than Jerry Rice, who is also undoubtedly the best Wide Receiver in the game's history.

Toni Kukoc was a superstar in Europe in 1990, playing for Jugoplastika in Croatia and winning the EuroLeague Final Four MVP award after leading his team to the EuroLeague Title. Despite those accomplishments, Chicago fans scratched their heads when the Bulls used their Second Round Pick to take him.  Two EuroLeague Titles later (the second one being with Treviso of the Italian League), Kukoc was ready to join the Bulls.

Kukoc was immediately popular with Chicago fans, and he logged heavy minutes despite usually coming off the bench.  Michael Jordan returned from his stint as a minor league baseball player, and Kukoc was a considerable part of the second three-peat dynasty (1996-98), with Kukoc winning the Sixth Man of the Year in 1995-96.  The Small Forward never had a season in Chicago where he didn't have at least 10 Points per Game, and his best season was an 18.8 PPG campaign in 1998-99, the year after Jordan retired a second time.

The Bulls were in rebuilding mode, and he was traded to Philadelphia in 2000.  As a Bull, Kukoc averaged 14.1 Points per Game with a PER of 18.6, and would enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.