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Apologies for the delay in getting this one out. I got deep in some research (not for this particular bit, but about basketball in general) and couldn’t tear myself away. This group of players does have one of my favorite ever entries in it, though. See if you can guess which one.
Anyway, with the way the Hall of Fame is structured now, this is the last real batch of players you can make any sort of argument against being in the Hall, and still have me take you seriously. Not everyone beyond this point is in (five eligible players are not), but those are outliers who I firmly believe should be in the Hall of Fame already. And hey, if you didn’t have any faith in this ranking system before, how about that for a stat: only five of the top 120 players according to this thing have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. That seems good, right? Of those 120, if you take out the active players (18) and the not-yet-eligible players (1), the system is 96/101 on predicting if someone will make the Hall of Fame. Considering a set out to build a mathematical Hall of Fame measuring stick, I think I did alright. Anyway, enough patting myself on the back, here’s the last batch of kinda-maybe-sorta fringe Hall of Fame candidates.
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- Marques Johnson - 151.9
- Career - 111.1
- 1978-1987, 1990
- MIL, LAC, GSW
- 79.8 Win Shares
- 0.124 Adjusted MVP Award Shares
- 1x All-NBA First Team Selection (1979)
- 2x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1980, 1981)
- 5x All-Star Selection (1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986)
- 2.3 Conference Finals Win Shares (2 Conf. Finals losses - 1983 MIL, 1984 MIL)
- Peak - 192.7
- 1979-1983
- Other achievements
- NCAA Champion (1975)
- Pac-8 Player of the Year (1977)
- Consensus National College Player of the Year (1977)
- Comeback Player of the Year (1986)
- #8 retired by the Milwaukee Bucks
- College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2013)
- If you’ve never heard his name said out loud, it’s pronounced the same as “Marcus,” just FYI.
- Johnson’s son, Kris, won an NCAA title in 1995, making the two of them the only father-son duo to win a title at the same school (UCLA).
- Johnson was also in White Men Can’t Jump, which is almost certainly the best basketball movie ever made.
- He also was the final recipient of the Comeback Player of the Year Award, which the NBA phased out in favor of the Most Improved Player of the Year Award. I’m guessing they decided they wanted to celebrate up-and-coming players, rather than guys who had suffered devastating injuries or had personal issues that required them to take time away from the court. Here’s the list of Comeback Players of the Year: 1981 - Bernard King (missed time the previous year due to cocaine/alcohol arrests/addiction), 1982 - Gus Williams (contract dispute/holdout), 1983 - Paul Westphal (contract dispute/stress fracture in foot), 1984 - Adrian Dantley (torn wrist ligaments), 1985 - Micheal Ray Richardson (substance abuse), 1986 - Marques Johnson (???). Johnson is the only player who I’m not sure the cause of his decline/comeback. He had career lows in 1985, and had previous issues with drug use, but I haven’t seen anything specifically linking the two, and he didn’t miss any games in 1985. Either way, what a weird, ill-conceived award. I’m honestly surprised the NFL still has one.
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- Anfernee Hardaway - 152.7
- Career - 105.1
- 1994-2006, 2008
- ORL, PHO, NYK, MIA
- 61.9 Win Shares
- 0.342 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (1x top five finish: 1996 - 3rd)
- 2x All-NBA First Team Selection (1995, 1996)
- 1x All-NBA Third Team Selection (1997)
- 4x All-Star Selection (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
- 2.4 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1995 ORL)
- 1.9 Conference Finals Win Shares (1 Conf. Finals loss - 1996 ORL)
- Peak - 200.3
- 1994-1998
- Other achievements
- 2x Great Midwest Player of the Year (1992, 1993)
- 1x Olympic Gold Medalist (1996)
- It’s honestly a travesty that Hardaway isn’t in the Hall of Fame yet. Even if you were going to say “his career doesn’t merit induction,” his peak certainly does. For those of you who weren’t around for it, there were a couple years where he was almost unanimously considered the best basketball player on the planet. Granted, this is while Michael Jordan was playing baseball, but it still happened.
- Hardaway got injured in the playoffs in 1996, and then just kept getting injured. People talk about Derrick Rose and Grant Hill all-time “what if” players, but Hardaway is probably at the top for me.
- 128. Chris Mullin - 152.7
- Career - 119.2
- 1986-2001
- GSW, IND, GSW
- 93.1 Win Shares
- 0.088 Adjusted MVP Award Shares
- 1x All-NBA First Team Selection (1992)
- 2x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1989, 1991)
- 1x All-NBA Third Team Selection (1990)
- 5x All-Star Selection (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)
- 0.3 Finals Win Shares (2000 IND)
- 1.4 Conference Finals Win Shares (1998 IND, 1999 IND)
- Peak - 186.3
- 1989-1993
- Other achievements
- 3x Big East Player of the Year (1983, 1984, 1985)
- National College Player of the Year (1985)
- 2x Olympic Gold Medalist (1984, 1992)
- #17 retired by the Golden State Warriors
- College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2011)
- Mullin is probably best known for the teams he was on (the Dream Team, the Run-TMC Warriors, the 2000 Pacers) more than his individual play, but the guy could really score. It’s a small sample size, but in the 1992 Olympics, he shot 61.9% from the field and 53.8% from three. He was actually the fourth leading scorer on the Dream Team, with 12.9 ppg, after Barkley, Jordan, and Malone.
- The Run-TMC Warriors, for two seasons, were the definition of a “fun team to watch that won’t win the title.” It also seems like that team was around for a lot longer than it was, but Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond were all teammates for only the 1990 and 1991 seasons. They missed the playoffs in Hardaway’s rookie year, then won 44 games in 1991 and made the second round. Then they traded Richmond for Billy Owens and that was that.
- Career - 119.2
- 127. Joe Fulks - 152.8
- Career - 95.5
- 1947-1954
- PHW
- 29.2 Win Shares
- 3x All-BAA First Team Selection (1947, 1948, 1949)
- 1x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1951)
- 2x All-Star Selection (1951, 1952)
- 2.3 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 1947 PHW)
- 1.9 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1948 PHW)
- Peak - 210.1
- 1947-1951
- Other achievements
- College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2006)
- Fulks was the original “shoot first” player of the BAA. Some sources say he invented the jump shot, though that was probably a simultaneous innovation by several different players, but I thought I should mention it.
- He set the league single-game scoring record four separate times, scoring 37 and later 41 in the 1947 season, then 47 in the 1948 season, then 63 in 1949. In the game he scored 63, he shot 27-56 from the field and 9-14 from the line. He took 56 shots in a single game! That’s 1.17 per minute! Before the shot clock existed! The scoring record stood until Elgin Baylor scored 64 eleven seasons later. Wilt Chamberlain would later break the field goal attempts record (as he broke all records) with 63(!) in 1962.
- Chamberlain (14 times), Fulks (three times), Baylor, Rick Barry, and Kobe Bryant (all once) are the only players to ever attempt 50+ field goals in a game.
- Fulks also was a career 30.2% shooter, and holds the record for most shots missed in a game, shooting (drumroll…) 13-55 in one of those 50-attempt games. That’s 42 misses folks. And that wasn’t even his worst volume shooting game! He’s also the record holder for the most misses in a playoff game, with 38, when he went 8-46 (17.4%).
- Anyway, all of this talk about how many shots he took is going to sound somewhat insensitive when I tell you he was shot to death in a drunken argument in 1976, at age 54, by his girlfriend’s son. As far as I can tell, Fulks is the only Hall of Famer (even including the NFL and MLB) to be murdered.
- Career - 95.5
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- Horace Grant - 154.9
- Career - 125.1
- 1988-2004
- CHI, ORL, SEA, LAL, ORL, LAL
- 118.2 Win Shares
- 1x All-Star Selection (1994)
- 9.3 Championship Win Shares (4 titles - 1991 CHI, 1992 CHI, 1993 CHI, 2001 LAL)
- 2.4 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1995 ORL)
- 4.9 Conference Finals Win Shares (3 Conf. Finals losses - 1989 CHI, 1990 CHI, 1996 ORL)
- Peak - 184.7
- 1991-1995
- Other achievements
- ACC Player of the Year (1987)
- 4x All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)
- I’ve always said Horace Grant is probably the best player to never get any Hall of Fame consideration.
- Grant’s identical twin, Harvey, also played in the NBA, lasting 11 seasons. Harvey’s son is Jerami Grant, currently of the Portland Trail Blazers.
- This always cracks me up, but Horace Grant’s middle name is “Junior.” He also named his son “Horace Junior Grant.” Which makes the two of them Horace Junior Grant, Sr., and Horace Junior Grant, Jr.
- 125. Jack Sikma - 155.0
- Career - 137.3
- 1978-1991
- SEA, MIL
- 112.5 Win Shares
- 0.134 Adjusted MVP Award Shares
- 7x All-Star Selection (1979, 1980, 1981, 192, 1983, 1984, 1985)
- 1.8 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 1979 SEA)
- 2.1 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1978 SEA)
- 0.9 Conference Finals Win Shares (1 Conf. Finals loss - 1980 SEA)
- Peak - 172.7
- 1979-1983
- Other achievements
- 3x CCIW Player of the Year (1975, 1976, 1977)
- 1x All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1982)
- 10,000 Rebound Club (10,816; 31st all-time)
- #43 retired by the Seattle SuperSonics
- I cannot adequately explain the “Sikma Move,” so you’re just going to have to watch it. (It 100% looks like a travel to me, but we all know guys never traveled in the 70s and 80s, so what do I know.)
- Career - 137.3
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- Kevin Johnson - 155.7
- Career - 121.7
- 1988-1998, 2000
- CLE, PHO
- 92.8 Win Shares
- 0.063 Adjusted MVP Award Shares
- 4x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1989, 1990, 1991, 1994)
- 1x All-NBA Third Team Selection (1992)
- 3x All-Star Selection (1990, 1991, 1994)
- 1.6 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1993 PHO)
- 3.8 Conference Finals Win Shares (2 Conf. Finals losses - 1989 PHO, 1990 PHO)
- Peak - 189.7
- 1989-1993
- Other achievements
- Most Improved Player (1989)
- 1x World Cup Gold Medalist (1994)
- 5,000 Assist Club (6,711; 26th all-time)
- #7 retired by the Phoenix Suns
- I think we’re all familiar with the Charles Barkley-Kevin Johnson Suns from 1993-1996 who made the Finals once and how stacked they were with high level role players: Danny Ainge, Cedric Ceballos, Tom Chambers, A.C. Green, Michael Finley, Dan Majerle, and Danny Manning were all on the team at some point in that run. But what I think is the truly remarkable was the Suns roster from 1997-1998 after Barkley left. It featured Johnson alongside Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, for the most stacked point guard depth chart in league history. (The 1997 squad even had Sam Cassell for a bit, but he was part of the trade that brought in Kidd.)
- It’s not exactly rare for a player to make an All-NBA team without making the All-Star team in the same season. It’s unusual, but it’s happened several times in throughout league history. What is rare is that it happened to Kevin Johnson twice.
- Johnson was also the mayor of Sacramento from 2008-2016, and played a role in keeping the Kings there.
- 123. Chet Walker - 155.7
- Career - 141.9
- 1963-1975
- SYR/PHI, CHI
- 117.5 Win Shares
- 0.007 Adjusted MVP Award Shares
- 7x All-Star Selection (1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974)
- 2.3 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 1967 PHI)
- 5.9 Conference Finals Win Shares (5 Conf. Finals losses - 1965 PHI, 1966 PHI, 1968 PHI, 1974 CHI, 1975 CHI)
- Peak - 169.6
- 1967-1971
- Walker might be the most generic Hall of Fame player I can think of. He was the third-best player on the Sixers team that ended the Celtics eight-peat, after Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer (though an argument could be made for Billy Cunningham), and he has career averages of 18.2/7.1/2.1 over 13 seasons. I honestly don’t even have that much else interesting to say about him, so let’s just move on.
- Career - 141.9
- 122. Kyle Lowry - 155.8
- Career - 132.4
- 2007-2023
- MEM, HOU, TOR/TTB, MIA
- 108.1 Win Shares
- 0.005 Adjusted MVP Award Shares
- 1x All-NBA Third Team Selection (2016)
- 6x All-Star Selection (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
- 2.8 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 2019 TOR)
- 1.2 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 2023 MIA
- 1.3 Conference Finals Win Shares (2 Conf. Finals losses - 2016 TOR, 2022 MIA)
- Peak - 179.3
- 2016-2020
- Other achievements
- 1x Olympic Gold Medalist (2016)
- 5,000 Assist Club (6,750; 24th all-time)
- I think, personally, Lowry is my Hall of Fame litmus test. Was Player X better than Kyle Lowry? If yes, put him in the Hall of Fame. If no, keep him out. As for Lowry himself? I’m still undecided.
- Lowry is also the definition of a late-bloomer. He wasn’t a full-time starter until his fifth season, wasn’t an All-Star until his ninth season, wasn’t All-NBA until his 10th season, and wasn’t a champion until his 13th season. In fact, through his first eight seasons, he would’ve scored approximately 20 points on this scale.
- Career - 132.4
- 121. Blake Griffin - 157.7
- Career - 117.2
- 2011-2023
- LAC, DET, BRK, BOS
- 81.1 Win Shares
- 0.354 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (1x top five finish: 2014 - 3rd)
- 3x All-NBA Second Team Selection (2012, 2013, 2014)
- 2x All-NBA Third Team Selection (2015, 2019)
- 6x All-Star Selection (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019)
- Peak - 198.2
- 2011-2015
- Other achievements
- Big 12 Player of the Year (2009)
- Consensus National College Player of the Year (2009)
- Rookie of the Year (2011)
- Griffin, like Vince Carter, is going to go down in history as “that guy with the good dunks,” but I feel like that really sells him a bit short. He had a pretty good shot, nice post moves, and was an excellent passer. Injuries just absolutely devastated his career after about five years, which is even more crushing for someone who relies on their uber-athleticism.
- Even still, I can think of worse things than having your legacy be boiled down to this.
- Career - 117.2
Any current heat players on this list other than Lowry?