As we are neck deep in the 2019 NBA Finals, we have a significant retirement to look at in the world of Basketball as Tony Parker is calling it quits.

From France, Parker was selected by the San Antonio Spurs 28^thOverall and after beginning the season as a backup he was soon elevated to the team’s starting Point Guard.  A member of the First Team All-Rookie squad, Parker showed constant improvement and helped the Spurs win the 2003 NBA Championship and was a great fit with their star big man, Tim Duncan.  That was the first of four titles that he would win, with the others coming in 2005, 2007 and 2014.  In the 2007 Championship, he was named the Finals MVP, which made him the first European to win that honor.

Parker would be a six-time All-Star and he was also three-time Second Team All-NBA selection.  He would average 15.5 Points and 5.7 Assists per Game over a 1,254 Game career, 17 seasons with San Antonio and a final one with the Charlotte Hornets.

Internationally, he played for France at the 2012 Olympics and in eight Eurobasket Tournaments where he took them to a Gold Medal in 2013.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank Tony Parker for his on-court memories and we wish him the best in his post-playing career.

Last night, the World Golf Hall of Fame inducted five new members in a ceremony at Pebble Beach.

The 2019 World Golf Hall of Fame Class consists of:

Retief Goosen:  Goosen would win seven tournaments on the PGA Tour highlighted by wins at the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2007.  The native South African also won 14 Tournaments on the European Tour and was the European Tour Player of the Year in 2001.

Peggy Kirk Bell: Kirk Bell enters the Hall posthumously and she was a former pro and trainer who was a strong advocate of women’s golf.

Billy Payne: Payne was the Chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club from 2006 to 2017.

Jan Stephenson:  From Australia, Stephenson would win 16 events on the LPGA tour with wins on Woman’s PGA Championship (1982), the U.S. Women’s Title (1983) and the du Maurier Classic (1981).

Dennis Walters:  Walters story is inspirational as he was a promising amateur who was paralyzed at the age of 24 due to a golf cart accident.  He would learn to stay in the game by fixing a swivel seat on the back of a cart and would perform exhibitions and has been in over 3,000 of them.

This induction now brings the members to 160.  Moving forward, the World Golf Hall of Fame will be inducting members bi-annually and will coincide with major Golf events.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The Chicago Bears will be entering their 100^thseason of Professional Football, former Return Specialist, Devin Hester was asked by Joe Greenberg of the Atlantic about his Pro Football Hall of Fame chances.

Hester had this to say:

“I have no doubt in my mind I will make it.  I know I will.  When it’s all said and done, there’s no question I will be a Hall of Famer.”

Hester is arguably the greatest Returner ever in NFL history but even if you agree with that, there has never been a return specialist who has entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  11,028 of his 14,455 All-Purpose Yards came from returns and he was a four-time Pro Bowl and three-time First Team All-Pro in that capacity.  He holds the record for the most non-offensive Touchdowns with 20.  

With the perception as the greatest returner intact, the question really is how the position is viewed.  As we know, Special Teams players struggle to get into the Hall and there are already a lot of high-end players (regardless of the position) that are still on the outside looking in.

Hester will be eligible for Canton in 2022 and his profile is already up on Notinhalloffame.com.

Devin Hester will likely enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but not as quickly as he thinks.

NaVorro Bowman has officially retired from the Pro Football after last competing in 2017.

Bowman was a 3^rdRound Pick by the San Francisco 49ers from Penn State in 2010 and he would become a starting Inside Linebacker in his second season.  It was a breakout year as he would be named a First Team All-Pro and record 143 Tackles and was a large part of what was considered a renaissance for the 49ers defense.

The Linebacker would continue his interior dominance in 2012 as he would have his second straight First Team All-Pro Selection, would finally get the Pro Bowl nod that eluded him the year before and had his second straight 140 Tackle season.  More importantly, he was part of a Niners team that went to the Super Bowl in a losing effort against the Baltimore Ravens where he had nine Tackles in the game.

2013 would see Bowman again go to the Pro Bowl, achieve First Team All-Pro accolades and hit the 140 Tackle mark but a torn ACL and MCL kept him out of 2014.  He would make a comeback in 2015 with a career high and NFL high of 154 Tackles with a third Pro Bowl and fourth First Team All-Pro selection. This would be the last good season of Bowman’s career as 2016 was riddled with injuries and he was benched and released in 2017.  He would finish off the year with the Oakland Raiders.

Bowman is not a strong candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame but will be eligible in 2023. We will be adding his profile next month.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank NaVorro Bowman for the gridiron memories and we wish him the best in his post-playing career.