Don’t get me wrong, AD’s numbers throughout his career have been great. However, his New Orleans numbers where he’s been more dominant statistically were empty calories. His best team season was 2018 when they made it to the conference semis without Boogie and lost to Steph and KD’s Warriors.
So his New Orleans career was empty calories that were meaningless. He then had the great year in LA from 2019-2020 and they won the chip together. He and Bron were 1A/1B and the best duo in the league by far. But after that, AD completely declined and stopped being consistent. His FT shooting went way down for a while, and his jump shooting has nose-dived. He’s been a roller coaster, and that is clearly due to not having that mentality to dominate. Also, in LA, there’s so many all time great bigs with Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, and Pau. AD and Pau are debatable, but he’s not a top 10 laker. You have Jerry, Elgin, Wilt, Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Shaq, Kobe, Pau, LeBron,
Let’s think about this: With AD’s career in LA being a disappointment and him declining at 26 years old, will he be even voted in the HOF in the first ballet. Now again, I have high standards for the HOF as there’s so many players that shouldn’t be in (like Chris Webber). But is it possible that AD’s injury history, inconsistencies, and his soft mentality should warrant him getting left off the ballot for the Hall of Fame?