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
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…
Jeff Mullins was a legend at Duke and was so highly respected that the two-time All-ACC player was named the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1964. The St. Louis Hawks used their 6th Overall Pick to take the Shooting Guard, but they barely used him and it looked like he was a bust. His career was resurrected when he was taken by Chicago in the Expansion Draft and was traded to the San Francisco,…
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…
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…
The identical twin of Dick Van Arsdale, Tom Van Arsdale played with his brother at the University of Indiana, where he impressed enough to be drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1965. He was decent enough with the Pistons, but in his third year, Van Arsdale was traded to the Cincinnati Royals, where he had his best run. From 1969-70 to 1971-72, Van Arsdale was named to the All-Star Team and averaged over 22 Points…
From Villanova, Bill Melchionni was drafted by the nearby Philadelphia 76ers, where he was a reserve player on their 1967 Championship team. His stay with the Sixers only lasted two years, as his contract was not renewed. He played for the Trenton Colonials of the Eastern Professional Basketball League, but when the ABA came into existence, his chance for prominence came. Melchionni joined the New York Nets in 1969, and it was an instant success…
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.
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…
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…
From the University of Minnesota, Dick Garmaker was drafted (twice due to the strange rules at the time) by the Minneapolis Lakers, where the Guard translated his collegiate success as a Golden Gopher, where he was a 1955 Consensus All-American to his home state Lakers. After playing sparingly as a rookie, Garmaker blossomed in his second season, averaging 16.3 Points per Game, which was good enough for tenth overall. Garmaker made the next three All-Star…
Dan Majerle was one of the greatest players in Central Michigan’s basketball history. He earned All-MAC honors three seasons in a row (1986-88), and the Chippewas retired his number 44 years later. His college career landed him a First-Round pick in 1988 by the Phoenix Suns, the professional team he had his greatest success with. The Suns fans were initially upset with Majerle’s selection. He didn’t look like much, and he came from a smaller…
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…
Johnny Green was an undersized power forward (even for the 50’s and 60’s) who was a hard worker under the boards and earned four All-Star game appearances in a long career. His career stats are what keep him in the discussion; but it won’t get him discussed much.
Mel Hutchins led BYU to an NIT Title in 1951, and the Second Team All-American was drafted Second Overall the year after by the Tri-Cities Hawks, who moved to Milwaukee right after. Hutchins was incredible in his first pro year, where he became the first rookie to lead the NBA in rebounds. Named by the sportswriters as their Rookie of the Year, Hutchins became a more balanced player, averaging a double-double as a sophomore (11.7…
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!