Basketball
Of the four Halls of Fame comprising the “Big Four” of the North American sports, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is the one that is the hardest for many casual fans to figure out.Established in 1959, though there was no physical building for a decade, the Basketball Hall of Fame would take root in Springfield, Massachusetts. While the popularity of Basketball has skyrocketed over the past 20 years, the Hall of Fame has not grown nearly at the same pace.
Why is that?
It is because the very thing that was designed to make it special is what makes it convoluted.
The Baseball Hall of Fame, with the primary exception of the Negro Leagues, focuses only on those who participated in Major League Baseball.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame only looks at the National Football League.
The Hockey Hall of Fame does look at International contributions but with the exception of two players who played their career in the Soviet Red Army, all players had at one time plied their trade in the National Hockey League.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame looks at everything. This includes College, International, Women and in some cases High School.
Every year, there are finalists where even the most devote basketball fans are trying to figure out who those people are, and when that happens, the cache value of the Hall naturally shrinks.
For our purposes, we will only look at those who were in the National Basketball Association as let’s face it…that is what most of us care about the most!
Until then, go for the three!
Sincerely,
The Notinhalloffame.com Committee
Simply put how in the heck did Rod Strickland never make an All-Star Game? He is easily one of the best ten point guards in league history. Strickland is in the top ten for all time assists and 54th all time in games played. 14,000 points and almost 8,000 assists are pretty good career numbers. Sure he bounced around a lot playing with a total of ten teams in his career but that just shows…
The third overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft, Deron Williams had taken the University of Illinois Fighting Illini to the NCAA Championship Game prior to being drafted. While Illinois lost to UNC, Williams established himself as a future NBA Star, which was what he would become.
Dale Ellis was a great shooter, although we don’t think the Basketball Hall of Fame likes shooters. His 19,000 career points and sixth position all time in three pointers easily gets him on this list. Quite simply, he was a great shooter at Tennessee, he was a great shooter in Milwaukee and he was a great shooter in Seattle. Oh and did we mention that he played forever?
Terry Porter is one of the best NBA players ever to come from a Division II school. He was so highly regarded form tiny Wisconsin-Stevens Point that he was invited to the 1984 Olympic trials where he almost made the team; but was in the final cut with Charles Barkley and John Stockton. A solid career followed for Porter in the NBA primarily with the Portland Trail Blazers where he teamed with Clyde Drexler to…
It was easy to forget just how good Jermaine O’Neal was. Seemingly always in someone’s shadow, O’Neal quietly went to six consecutive All-Star Games as a member of the Indiana Pacers. Drafted right out of high school by Portland, O’Neal’s best run was certainly in Indiana where he was known for his blocking and would generate four consecutive twenty Points per Game campaigns.
A seventh round draft choice out of Division II Buffalo, Smith was an iron man playing for the small market Buffalo Braves and then the Clippers when the team moved west. Smith set the league consecutive game mark of 906 (since broken by A.C. Green). As Bob McAdoo's sidekick in crime, Randy Smith and the Braves were actually contenders in the mid 70's and he showed he belonged with the big boys especially in the…
The fourth overall draft pick from the 1998 Draft, Antawn Jamison would have a great career as a scorer in the National Basketball Association after having a huge run as a North Carolina Tar Heel where he was the Naismith College Player of the Year.
Sidney Wicks was the UCLA big man who led the Bruins to numerous NCAA titles and was selected College Player of the Year. He would be drafted by the Blazers and would become the centerpiece of the franchise. Later went to Boston where he was a solid contributor. No it’s not Bill Walton; it’s the forgotten star of the UCLA dynasty, Sidney Wicks. Wicks is one of those great 70s players that time has seemingly…
Danny Ainge is one of those guys who depending on whom you talk to is either one of the most overrated players of all time or one of the least appreciated. He definitely was not the most popular, but boy could he play. He became a household name when he led BYU to an upset of Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament on a memorable full court drive in 1981; the same year he won…
Mark Jackson may very well be the Dennis Rodman of assists; and Rodman got in to the Hall being a great rebounder. At number three all time on the assist list behind Stockton and Kidd it seems like Jackson some serious consideration by now; of course his reputation as being one dimensional player does not help. He was too slow, couldn't shoot and never won. You would think that being able to run a team…
Charles Oakley was a key member of both the Bulls and Knicks in the 80’s and 90’s and built a solid reputation as a bruiser underneath. He seemingly played forever and is high on some career accumulative stats such as games played and total rebounds but did not average double digits in either points or rebounds. Sadly his legacy will be that of the guy who was traded right before the Bulls made their run…
A two time All Star, Jerry Stackhouse was dubbed the “Next Jordan” (he also came out of UNC) though that was a label that nobody could ever live up to. Still, Stackhouse proved to be a very good scorer in the NBA who averaged 19.5 Points per Game in the NBA including the 2000/01 Season where he finished second in that category, though he did actually lead the NBA in Points Scored.
Probably better known for his antics off the court (choking a coach and his complete inability to manage his finances), Latrell Sprewell was a very good basketball player in his prime. A very good two way player, the Shooting Guard constantly improved during his tenure in Golden State, which was until the famed incident with P.J. Carlesimo. He did rebound in New York and made his fourth All Star game, but degenerated upon arriving to…
John Drew had 20.7 points and almost 7 boards per game making him one of great small forwards of his generation. Of course, a Hall of Fame induction would mean little to Jazz fans as they saw him in the tail end of his career where they shipped Dominique Wilkins to the Hawks. Career wise, Drew has solid statistics with 15,000 points and 5,000 rebounds. However, he is likely best known not for his solid…
A highly recruited player out of high school, Rashard Lewis was a successful forward who would forego university and go right to the pros. Lewis would prove to be a sweet shooter from behind the arc and would lead the NBA in three point field goals made in the 2008-09 season. The two time All Star would earn a championship ring with the Miami Heat as a role player and retired with a respectable 14.9…
A longtime member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Zydrunas Ilgauskas brought his tall frame from Lithuania and became one of the top offensive rebounders in the league. He was also adept at blocking and at his prime pumped in a 15 point plus average and was often considered the top part of LeBron James’ supporting cast. The Lithuanian likely won’t make the Hall of Fame, but had Cleveland won the Finals, would he be in the…
How many other players can say they are one of the top 50 all time scorers as well as top 25 all time in assists. And how many of these are shooting guards? Well the answer would be two. Jerry West is one of them. Yes, that Jerry West, the image behind the NBA emblem for the last 30 years. And the other guy? Well that would be none other than one Reggie Theus. I…
A very good player, who had the misfortune of playing for some awful teams, Shareef Abdur-Rahim would five times hit the 20 points per game average, and would have a career PER of 19.0. Overall, he proved to be a very good Basketball player who had a lot more points than you may realize; though perhaps it is because you don’t remember any of them!
One of the great shooters of all time, Austin Carr’s college run overshadows a very good pro career that was lost in the obscurity of playing in Cleveland. However, shouldn’t the all time NCAA tournament scoring average leader be considered? He scored sixty-one once in an NCAA tourney game, showcasing his legendary shooting. Considering all the nonsense the Cavs have had to deal with recently, Carr, who is Mr. Cavalier, would give the city a…
Christian Laettner is one of the best 10 college players ever leading the mighty Duke Blue Devils to two NCAA championships in a row. He played the greatest game ever and hit the biggest shot in college basketball history. He was the only college member of the Dream Team. So why is he so low? Well, he did not have the most stellar pro career and is thought of as being soft and was the not…