When it comes to figuring out who deserves to make it to the prestigious Basketball Hall of Fame, the first thing to do is to understand the necessary criteria .
Unfortunately, trying to figure out the criteria for that is like trying to understand what it takes to make it to the All-Star Game or winning a Defensive Player of the Year award – everyone has a general idea, but there is no handbook explaining what you need to do to achieve any of it.
When you look at players like Chris Webber or Kevin Johnson, the statistics, individual accomplishments and what they meant to their respective teams indicate that they should undoubtedly be Hall of Famers. However, there are some who will question if they really belong on the list due to the fact that they were injury prone and never won anything. The same goes for more modern players like Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, who at one point of their careers were absolutely dominant, but never managed to win anything.
So is winning then a prerequisite to be in the Hall of Fame? That seems to be the general perception, but there are plenty of players in the Hall who never won anything. It seems at the end of the day, who ends up a Hall of Famer is mostly a subjective call.
On that note, Brandon Jennings decided to take his time on Thursday to name 12 players currently in the NBA that will eventually be in the Hall of Fame.
Name 12 Hall Of Famers that’s playing today? I got my 12
— BRANDON JENNINGS (@BrandonJennings) August 8, 2014
Dirk, lebron, Kobe, Parker, Nash, Durant, Ray, KG, Paul P, Duncan, VC, Wade. Just 12 I came up with — BRANDON JENNINGS (@BrandonJennings) August 8, 2014
Hard to argue with that list. My list looks like this: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.
There are more players to be named, obviously, but those are the Top 12. If you wonder why Kevin Durant is not on the list, it’s simple: he hasn’t played long enough to be considered. Chris Paul is on a similar boat and doesn’t have the longevity of Nash or Parker. You may not love Howard on the list, but the accolades – including three DPOY awards – speak for themselves.
So, who’s on your list?
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James Park is the chief blogger and deputy editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
cobra says
Melo!
Careless Commenter says
Kevin Durant will be a HOFer. Chances are if he plays an injury free career, he’ll possibly surpass Jordan or even Kareem in scoring. Soon I hope he wins a championship. KD has all the commodities and needs to be a HOF if he isn’t in that conversation already.
James Park says
No question. If he stays on course, it’s a given that he’s in, but that’s what everyone thought about McGrady, too. You never know what’s in store.
tru baller says
MANU! He deserves it more than half of the guys you listed.
Devin Martin says
I think Kevin Durants 4 scoring titles and winning the MVP still trumps Howard’s accomplishments
sugarshiv says
Manu is a first ballot HOF
4 Titles
Gold Medalist
International Titles
Derrick says
I actually agree with Jennings list as of right now. I think you can make the argument to add Melo to that list as well. One of the most versatile scorers ever. While I hate Dwight Howard I think you can also make the argument for him as well. I might even argue that Pau Gasol deserves some consideration here as well.
jamal says
Your dumb as fuck for having dhoward over vince carter, currently at 23,000 pts, has 3 years left which could get him around 26,000 8 time allstar, lead team USA in 2000 to gold, best dunker of all time. Sure he has never won anything but his individual stats speak for themselves. What’s Howard an allstar center who can be much more dominant but choices not too, just because 3 defensive players of the yr don’t put him ahead of carter.
JM says
Melo has HOF #s
Just saying!
James Park says
I guess you didn’t appreciate the part where I said all of this is subjective. If you think VC should be ahead of DH, that’s perfectly fine. I would explain myself, but I don’t continue conversations with someone who immediately starts with name calling, and if you’re gonna call someone dumb, at least do yourself a favor and not start the sentence with a grammar mistake.