We here at Notinhalloffame.com thought it would be fun to take a look at the major awards in North American team sports and see how it translates into Hall of Fame potential.

Needless to say, different awards in different sports yield hall of fame potential.  In basketball, the team sport with the least number of players on a roster, the dividend for greatness much higher.  In baseball, it is not as much as a great individual season does not have the same impact.

Last time, we looked at the NBA Finals MVP.  This time we went back to basketball, and the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.

The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award is given to the player who shows the most outstanding service and dedication to the community.

While this is generally given to star players, we will not dissect the season in question as the award is not meant to be defined by stat lines and on court accomplishments.  Please also note that players do not always win this award, and those will be marked with an asterisks. 

So how many J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award winners have made the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame?

Let’s find out!

The following are the past players who have won the J. Walter Citizenship Award who are eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and have been enshrined.

Wes Unseld, Washington Bullets 1974-75                       

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988.

Dave Bing, Washington Wizards 1976-77                       

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.

Bob Lanier, Detroit Pistons 1977-78                              

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.

Calvin Murphy, Houston Rockets 1978-79                     

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.

Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers 1982-83                     

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.

Dan Issel, Denver Nuggets 1984-85                                

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.

Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons 1986-87                          

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Alex English, Denver Nuggets 1987-88                           

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers 1991-92                 

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.

Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons 1992-94                            

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Vlade Divac, Sacramento Kings 1999-00                        

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta Hawks & Philadelphia 76ers 2000-01       

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Alonzo Mourning, Miami Heat 2001-02                          

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs 2002-03                 

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacers 2003-04                           

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves 2005-06          

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020.

Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns 2006-07                                

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.

The following are the players who have won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award who are eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and have not been selected:

Slick Watts, Seattle SuperSonics 1975-76                      

Eligible Since 1985.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com

Austin Carr, Cleveland Cavaliers 1979-80                      

Eligible Since 1987.  Ranked #66 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Mike Glenn, New York Knicks 1980-81                          

Eligible Since 1992.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Kent Benson, Cleveland Cavaliers 1981-82                    

Eligible Since 1992.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

*Frank Layden, Utah Jazz 1983-84                                

Non-Player.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers 1985-86 Co-Winner   

Eligible Since 1996.  Ranked #33 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Rory Sparrow, New York Knicks 1985-86 Co-Winner      

Eligible Since 1998.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Thurl Bailey, Utah Jazz 1988-89                                    

Eligible Since 2005.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Doc Rivers, Atlanta Hawks 1989-90                               

Eligible Since 2002.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Kevin Johnson, Phoenix Suns 1990-91                          

Eligible Since 2006.  Ranked #17 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Terry Porter, Portland Trail Blazers 1992-93                 

Eligible Since 2002.  Ranked #72 on Notinhalloffame.com.

*Joe O’Toole, Atlanta Hawks 1994-95                            

Non-Player.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Chris Dudley, Portland Trail Blazers 1995-96                

Eligible Since 2009.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

P.J. Brown, Miami Heat 1996-97                                    

Eligible Since 2014.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Steve Smith, Atlanta Hawks 1997-98                             

Eligible Since 2011.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Brian Grant, Portland Trail Blazers 1998-99                  

Eligible Since 2012.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Eric Snow, Cleveland Cavaliers 2004-05                        

Eligible Since 2014.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Chauncey Billups, Detroit Pistons 2007-08                    

Eligible Since 2018.  Ranked #11 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia 76ers 2008-09             

Eligible Since 2019.  Unranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Metta World Peace, Los Angeles Lakers 2009-10            

Eligible Since 2021.  Ranked #83 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Let’s update our tally, shall we?        

So, who is up next?

The following are the players who have won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in the NBA who have retired but have not met the mandatory years out of the game to qualify for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame:

Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls & Cleveland Cavaliers 2013-14

Eligible in 2023.

The following are the players who have won the NBA J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award who are still active.

Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers 2011-12

36 Years Old,Free Agent.

Kenneth Faried, Portland Trail Blazers 2012-13

29 Years Old,Playing in China.

Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls 2014-15

34 Years Old,Playing for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Wayne Ellington, Brooklyn Nets 2015-16

32 Years Old,Playing for the New York Knicks.

LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers 2016-17

34 Years Old,Playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

J.J. Barea, Dallas Mavericks 2017-18

35 Years Old,Playing for the Dallas Mavericks.

Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers 2018-19

29 Years Old,Playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.

This is an award based more on character, and will likely continue to yield winners all over the ability spectrum.

So, what is up next?

We return to the NFL with a similar award to this one, and the last one we will look at in that league: The Walter Payton Man of the Year.

As always, we thank you for your support, and look for that soon.

Hall of Fame related news continues for us, as Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame has announced that six athletes and five builders will be entering their Hall.

The six new athletes are:

Jackie Barrett: Barrett won 13 Gold Medals at the Special Olympics World Summer Games.

Sonja Gaudet: Gaudet won three Gold Medals at the Paralympics (2006, 2010 & 2014) in Wheelchair Curling.

Diane Jones-Konihowski:  Competing as a Pentathlete, Jones-Konihowski won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games. 

Lorie Kane: From Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Kane won four tournaments on the LPGA Tour with seven other significant wins.  She was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2016.

Eric Lamaze and Hickstead:  Lamaze was a successful showjumper and with his horse, Hickstead won the Olympic Gold Medal in Individual Jumping in the 2008 Olympics and the Silver in Team Jumping.  Hickstead passed away in 2011, and Lamaze won a Bronze in Individual Jumping at the 2016 Olympics with his new horse, Derly Chin De Muze.

Steve Nash:  Nash played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association playing for Phoenix, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers.  The Point Guard blossomed in the second half of his career, where he was a two-time MVP, three-time First Team All-NBA, eight-time All-Star and five-time Assists Leader.  Nash won the Lou Marsh Trophy in 2005, and the Lionel Conacher Award three times (2002, 2005 & 2006), and he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

The five new builders are:

Duncan Campbell:  A teenage athlete from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Campbell broke his neck while diving at age 17, breaking his neck and paralyzing from the waist down.  Campbell co-invented “murderball”, which morphed into wheelchair rugby.  Nicknamed the “Quadfather”, Campbell was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. 

Sheldon Kennedy: Kennedy had a ten-year career in the National Hockey League.  Late in his career, he came forward with how he was sexually abused by his junior hockey coach. Following that admission, he raised awareness for sexual abuse victims, which included rollerblading across Canada. He was named to the Order of Hockey of Canada this year, and remains a leading advocate in fighting sexual abuse.

Judy Kent:  Kent was a past President of Commonwealth Games Canada.

Willie O’Ree:  O’Ree was the first black hockey player to reach the National Hockey League, participating in 41 Games with the Boston Bruins.  The trailblazer from Fredericton, New Brunswick was chosen for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

Ross Powless:  Powless was a Mohawk lacrosse player of Six Nations, and he helped build the sport across the country.

Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame has been in existence since 1955, and is currently housed in Calgary, Alberta.  With this impending induction, the Hall will now house 681 Athletes and Builders.  Due to COVID-19, the induction gala that would normally happen this fall, has been postponed until 2021.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Entering the American League as an expansion team in 1998, the Rays were originally the “Devil Rays”, before dropping the demonic portion of their name in 2008.  Saddled in the ultra-competitive American League East, Tampa has managed to make the playoffs five times, including an American League Pennant in 2008.  They have yet to win the World Series to date. 

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Evan Longoria

2. Carl Crawford

3. Ben Zobrist

4. David Price

5. Kevin Kiermaier

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our All-Time Top 50 Boston Red Sox coming next!

As always we thank you for your support.

A few days following the passing of Jerry Sloan, another Hall of Fame Coach passed away. Eddie Sutton, one of the most successful college coaches died at the age of 84.

A Head Coach at Division I for nearly four decades, Sutton took four different schools to the NCAA tournament.  As a player, Sutton played at Oklahoma State (1955-58), and following his playing days, transitioned into a role as an Assistant Coach for one year.  This would be Sutton’s only season as a subordinate, as he took over the reins at Tulsa Central High (1959-66).  Sutton’s teams were very good, and it garnered him a resume to take to the next level.  Sutton took over at Southern Idaho (1966-69), again doing well with an 84-14 record.  That would be the end of his JuCo career, as Division I came calling.

Creighton University signed Sutton to take over in 1969, and he took the Blue Jays to the NCAA Tournament in 1974.  With Creighton, he had an overall record of 82-50, a nice record for a good school but he landed a higher-profile role with Arkansas of the Southwest Conference.

He ran the Razorbacks program from 1974 to 1985, where Sutton would take them to the Tournament the last nine seasons.  With Arkansas, he was the Coach of the Year (1978), four-time SWC Coach of the Year, and in 1978, he brought the Razorbacks to the Final Four.  

Following Arkansas, Sutton took over the program at Kentucky, where he did well, winning his second AP College Coach of the Year (1986), but his end there ended in a booster scandal, forcing him to resign.  Sutton may have left the program in disgrace, but he would rebound two years later, as he went back to his alma mater, Oklahoma State in 1990.

Sutton’s tenure at Oklahoma State was the longest of his coaching career (1990-2006) and he was a three-time conference Coach of the Year.  The Cowboys would be the fourth team he brought to the dance, and Oklahoma State went to the Final Four twice under Sutton’s guidance.  He resigned in 2006, and came out of retirement briefly to coach the University of San Francisco on an interim basis for one year before he retired for good.

Sutton was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and he was chosen this year for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.  Sadly, that induction will now be posthumous.  He had an overall coaching record in college of 806-326.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Eddie Sutton.