After AI, he was the player I loved watching most while growing up in the early 00s. So smooth. The only famous bball shoes I owned were his adidas TMac 2s. But he's gonna have a tough time making it without the playoff success. I say yes because there was a stretch for a few years when he was the best player in the game (yes, above Kobe/Tim/KG/etc)
If you have to ask, then no. That said, I don't think you should have to ask. He was a premier scorer and franchise player for the better part of a decade. I think he's a no-brainer, but I know others disagree.
Ya, it's funny. ESPN had a round table discussing it, and even they were pretty split on it. Some say he has the stats to easily get in, others say with his stats he will eventually get in, and others say he won't get in because of his lack of play off success
I don't see why there's a question about it. He starred for 3 teams. Made playoffs 9 times. Elite level stats.
Not in the HOF Spencer Haywood 20/10 13 seasons Mark Jackson 10/8 17 seasons Mark Aguirre 20/5/3 13 seasons Bob Dandridge 19/7/3 13 seasons Jack Sikma 16/10 14 seasons Mitch Richmond 21/4/3 14 seasons Tim Hardaway 18/3/8 13 seasons Artis Gilmore 19/12/2 17 seasons Bernard King 22/6/3 14 seasons Alonzo Mourning 17/9/3 15 seasons Buck Williams 13/10 17 seasons Maurice Lucas 15/9 14 seasons Tracy McGrady 19/6/4 16 seasons I am also pretty sure that every single one of those other players who aren't in the HOF had better playoff success.
In your list, only TMac was considered one of the very best players in the league during the time he played, if not the best at his position.
I can't remember ever not wanting a Hall of Fame Player traded to the Blazers. (In their prime) I am sure there had to have been a few years in his career that I wished we had Tracy, but most of the time I did not. So IMO he is not a HOF player. And neither is his cousin.
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/sto...ing-inducted-basketball-hall-fame-source-says NBA legend Bernard King will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2013, a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.
From that list I'd put Artis Gilmore, Bernard King, and Spencer Haywood. In fact I'm shocked Artis Gilmore isn't in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artis_Gilmore#Hall_of_Fame Gilmore was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.[5]
I saw Spencer Haywood play plenty of games. He wasn't really consistently great from season to season. Plus I think he is being penalized a bit for suing the NBA to allow underclassmen to be allowed to play.
7x Allstar 2x Scoring champ 2x all NBA first team 3x all NBA second team 2x All NBA third team Having a discussion if a player who is a 7x allstar and 7x all NBA player, before going down with an injury he never recovered from, is going into the HoF is simply for discussion on ESPN and has no relevance to his actual chances. Like AI he will get in, difference is that AI is a first ballot HoFer while it may take a year or two for McGrady.
McGrady is a HOFer. He's not one of the all-time greats in terms of titles and MVPs, but his numbers make his case.
