Posted June 2, 200520 yr comment_2365848 I was reading his week's Sports Illustrated and Alonzo Mourning's name came up. Now, the article had nothing to do with the Hall of Fame (it was actually about Shaq) but I began thinking... Does Mourning belong in the Hall of Fame? Then I started thinking about all of the other players in the NBA today who may get there... or maybe not. So, who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame? I'll list a few guys who may get that consideration. I am not going to list guys like Shaq or Tim Duncan who could retire today and be assured a spot. Instead, I'll go with fringe players who still have a few years to go and a few things to prove. Kobe Bryant- It is clear that without Shaq, the lakers are losers. Does Bryant deserve to get in based on the three rings and the point totals? Allen Iverson- My forst inclination is to say yes, of course, but Iverson always seems to be a great player on a nad-to-decent team that has no hopes of winning a championship. I know he made the finals once but does he need a ring before he gets in the Hall? Chris Webber- He certainly has the numbers but several teams have given up on this guy. He has never sniffed championship success and his best days are behind him. Alonzo Mourning- Again, here is a guy who has always played on decent teams but never been close to winning or leading his team to a ring. Maybe his defensive accolades and scoring early in his career help him get through. There is also the senimental thought that he came back from the kidney transplant. Kevin Garnett- His numbers certainly make a strong case for him. HE is the ultimate team player and is always a featured attraction for the NBA. However, he has only gotten past the first-round of the playoffs once, it is doubtful he will ever get a ring in his current situation, and appears to have all the tools yet couldn't make the playoffs this year. Was it just bad team chemistry and distractions or was it because the players surrounding him don't buy into KG being the team leaderwho they fall in line under.
June 3, 200520 yr comment_2370956 I don't think Kobe should. At least not yet. He's still young though, so he has a lot of years to prove me wrong. I certainly don't think he can be the focal point of a team like Jordan was. He's too selfish. Allen Iverson? I love him but c'mon. He hasn't really done anything yet. He has good numbers but I think it'll take more than that. He's in the same boat as Kobe. Still young, has done a lot, but needs to do more. Webber? Shit, he wishes. Even with having decent to great numbers everyone still looks at him as a choke artist. I man that you can't depend on in clutch situations. You can't say the same about other hall of famers. Magic? Jordan? Bird? They all got it done. Mourning? Fuck no. His health has always been an issue and it's not like he's David Robinson. KG, if he keeps his numbers as good as they have been, will be first ballot. Of course, if he never wins a championship, or at least advances farther into the playoffs, it might not be such a no brainer. Still, I think he's going in the right direction. He still seems to care about winning. He doesn't strick me as a glory hog or someone that's all about the money. Look at Stockton and Barkley. They never got a championship but you can't say that they're the reason as to why.
June 3, 200520 yr comment_2372461 I don't see how winning a championship needs to be a qualifier for a player to gain entrance into the Hall. Lots of great players never won it all, including John Stockton, Reggie Miller, and Karl Malone. Alonzo Mourning- Closer than people think, but no. Simply missed too much time over his career. Kobe Bryant- Probably a HOF caliber player, but needs more time to build his legend before he earns a spot. Allen Iverson- If he retired today, it would be a tough call. But given a normal aging pattern, Iverson should easily make the Hall. Chris Webber- Not yet, but he's not such a long shot. He'll need to fight the injury bug, but if he can play into his late 30s, he'll have a chance. Kevin Garnett- Yes. Garnett has been the best offensive player in the NBA the last two years. Another thing not usually mentioned about Garnett is his durability. He has not missed a game since the 2001-02 season.
June 3, 200520 yr Author comment_2375338 I don't see how winning a championship needs to be a qualifier for a player to gain entrance into the Hall. It doesn't but there are plenty of players in the Hall who gained entrance based on their championship credentials. The perfect example of a great player on bad teams is Pistol Pete Maravich. George Gervin is another star who never won a ring. However, something that still looms over him is the fact he never won a championship.
June 8, 200520 yr Author comment_2441105 I had to bump this because I just heard this on the radio and was shocked... shocked I say... Dominique Wilkins did not get into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot!!! If there was ever complete BS, this is it. This kind of puts it into perspective when talking about some of these guys who were never as successful or as influential as Nique. http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showstory...?story_id=53659 Dennis Johnson got snubbed again also.
June 9, 200520 yr comment_2449212 Just in case any of you are in the dark regarding basketball statistics... http://www.basketball-reference.com/
June 9, 200520 yr comment_2450521 None of those fucks should be joining the ranks or Magic, Jordan, Bird, Kareem, etc. Kobe's the only one I would give the time of day too but he's still not worthy at this point of getting in. Fuck the rest of those guys. AI needs to win a damn ring to validate the blood, sweat and tears that motherfucker has poured into Philly before he can call it a career. Unless he leads the league in scoring for like another 3 or 4 years, without a ring, then that's the only way I'd give him consideration. He doesn't even need to make the Finals in those years. Then again... Fuck him. You have to either reach the top of the mountain and win it all or else you have to be the mountain that others must climb over. John Stockton is a good example of the latter. He's a HOFer, no questions asked.
June 13, 200520 yr comment_2504041 Alonzo Mourning- Again, here is a guy who has always played on decent teams but never been close to winning or leading his team to a ring. Maybe his defensive accolades and scoring early in his career help him get through. There is also the senimental thought that he came back from the kidney transplant.I think the senimental stuff just got flushed down the toilet when Zo signed with New Jersey for big money then got traded to a bad team but refused to show up, which eventually lead to him going back to Miami. If you want the senimental story then go with Sean Elliot who had kidney surgery and came back to win the title in 1999.
November 12, 200519 yr comment_3901162 For fun... Michael Jordan (Ranks among G all-time post 2004 season): 1st in points, 3rd in rebounds, 27th in assists, 2nd in steals, and 1st in blocks. Magic Johnson (Ranks among G all-time post 2004 season): 20th in points, 4th in rebounds, 3rd in assists, 10th in steals, and 18th in blocks. Larry Bird (Ranks among F all-time post 2004 season): 9th in points, 20th in rebounds, 3rd in assists, 4th in steals, and 41st in blocks. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Ranks among C all-time post 2004 season): 1st in points, 3rd in rebounds, 1st in assists, 7th in steals, and 2nd in blocks. Milestone Accomplishments - Eddie Jones needs 135 blocks to reach 5th all-time among G. - Vince Carter needs 75 blocks to reach 7th all-time among G. - Kobe Bryant needs 18 blocks to reach 12th all-time among G. - Paul Pierce needs 9 blocks to reach 10th all-time among G. - Gary Payton needs 183 steals to reach 2nd all-time among G. - Jason Kidd needs 109 assists to reach 8th all-time among G. - Gary Payton needs 126 rebounds to reach 10th all-time among G. - Gary Payton needs 757 points to reach 6th all-time among G. - Kevin Willis needs 61 rebounds to reach 9th all-time among F. - Kevin Garnett needs 125 assists to reach 9th all-time among F. - Grant Hill needs 134 assists to reach 12th all-time among F. - Clifford Robinson needs 32 steals to reach 8th all-time among F. - Ben Wallace needs 37 blocks to reach 5th all-time among F. - Shaquille O'Neal needs 1232 points to reach 5th all-time among C. - Dikembe Mutombo needs 273 rebounds to reach 10th all-time among C. - Dikembe Mutombo needs 90 blocks to reach 2nd all-time among C. - Shaquille O'Neal needs 88 blocks to reach 8th all-time among C.
November 12, 200519 yr comment_3901274 Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and KG are absolute locks. Everyone else, nah.
November 12, 200519 yr comment_3902021 Kobe Bryant is a lock above Jason-FUCKIN'-Kidd AND Shaquille O'Neal? Now that is bullshit, my friend.
November 12, 200519 yr comment_3902167 So who is older Kevin Willis, Dikembe Mutombo, Clifford Robinson?
November 12, 200519 yr comment_3902179 Comparisons... Jason Kidd: 11617 points (14.78), 5073 rebounds (6.45), 7283 assists (9.27), 1625 steals (2.07), and 234 blocks (0.30) Shaq: 23583 points (26.74), 10541 rebounds (11.95), 2509 assists (2.85), 596 steals (0.68), and 2273 blocks (2.58) Kobe Bryant: 14034 points (22.38), 3209 rebounds (5.12), 2788 assists (4.45), 912 steals (1.46), and 400 blocks (0.64) Allen Iverson: 16738 points (27.44), 2474 rebounds (4.06), 3643 assists (5.97), 1453 steals (2.38), and 121 blocks (0.20) Kevin Garnett: 15681 points (20.23), 8601 rebounds (11.10), 3525 assists (4.55), 1089 steals (1.41), and 1343 blocks (1.73) Grades Shaq: 44.80 Allen Iverson: 40.05 Kevin Garnett: 39.02 Kobe Bryant: 34.05 Jason Kidd: 32.87 This is PPG + RPG + APG + SPG + BPG. Although Kidd rates so low, if he had Kobe's scoring average his grade would be 40.47. "Career" Average JK: 15 points, 7 boards, 9 assists, 2 steals, and 0 blocks KB: 22 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block AI: 27 points, 4 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 0 blocks Shaq: 27 points, 12 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks KG: 20 points, 11 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks
November 12, 200519 yr comment_3902559 Kobe Bryant is a lock above Jason-FUCKIN'-Kidd AND Shaquille O'Neal? Now that is bullshit, my friend. Where did I say that? Jason Kidd is my favorite player in the NBA, and him and Shaq are locks period. I never said he was a lock above them, he's just a lock as well. Lets try and stick with what I posted here. Jeez.
November 12, 200519 yr comment_3903354 Calm down, man. From your initial post, it looked as if that's what you were implying.
November 13, 200519 yr comment_3906012 If Dominique didn't get in first-ballot, I can't justify putting any of the guys in the initial post in.
November 13, 200519 yr comment_3908378 Anyone who thinks that Bryant, Garnett and Iverson aren't currently good enough to reach the Hall of Fame has a bias against them imo. All three are easily top ten players in the league today and have been for a considerable amount of time.
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