By being named a reserve last night, Tony Parker has made his 4th All-Star team. I realize this is not news and other threads discuss that; I add this thread to note the historical significance of that accomplishment.
By making the West All-Star team in 2012, Parker becomes one of only 25 players in the history of basketball to have won 3 NBA les and to have made 4 All-Star teams.
Interestingly enough, 20 of the other 24 players on that list are in the Hall of Fame:
Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem
Jordan, Michael
Havlicek, John
Cousy, Bob
Russell, Bill
Johnson, Earvin
Bird, Larry
Parish, Robert
Sharman, Bill
Pippen, Scottie
Martin, Slater
McHale, Kevin
Worthy, James
Heinsohn, Tom
Mikkelsen, Vern
Jones, Sam
Johnson, Dennis
Mikan, George
Pollard, Jim
Lovellette, Clyde
3 others are mortal locks for Springfield:
O'Neal, Shaquille
Bryant, Kobe
Duncan, Tim
Only Willie Naulls, who was an all-star for the Knicks in the late 50's and then a bit player on 3 Celtics' le teams in the mid-60's, has managed to win 3 les and make 4 all-star teams without finding his way to the Hall of Fame.
Last edited by FromWayDowntown; 02-10-2012 at 10:20 AM.
Yeah, Parker's Hall of Fame case is getting pretty good. He's not quite there yet but he's closing in. Another championship would seal the deal. If he can win a medal with France at the Olympics, that would probably be enough. Otherwise he might need a couple other All-Star nods to be a slam dunk.
I think Parker will get into the HoF regardless of any future accolades. He's a 3 time NBA champion, Finals MVP, Rookie first team, NBA third team, 4 time All Star.
Not to mention he's a 6 ft 2 guard who's shooting nearly .500 on 17 ppg for his career. A lot of people have got in on less than him.
Actually I was looking at this recently and all the eligible Finals MVPs are in the HoF except two: Cedric Maxwell and Jo Jo White.
Cedric Maxwell's resume is only composed of his Finals MVP award and 2 rings with Boston. That's obviously not enough to get into the HoF (based on NBA career at least).
Jo Jo White is a more interesting case, and his profile is very comparable to Parker: he is a 7-time All-Star, has 2 rings with Boston, a Finals MVP award, All-Rookie 1st and 2x All-NBA 2nd.
That's pretty much what Parker's NBA resume will look like in the end, with at least one more ring but (probably) fewer All-Star selections. This being said, all the HoF predictors point to the fact that Jo Jo White should be in the HoF, and looking at his stats and resume, it's quite hard to understand why he isn't.
I'm pretty sure Parker won't end up being snubbed like that, though, because he is the first French player to shine at this level, has at least a bit of success on the international stage (3rd then 2nd in Euro championship and best scorer) and is actually the first European player to get a Finals MVP (eat that, Dirk).
For the record all the ineligible former Finals MVPs are a lock to the HoF (Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, Dirk, Wade, Pierce). Only Parker and Billups (5x All-Star, 2x All-NBA, 1 ring) are still on the bubble.
I think Parker's close also. One comparable that sticks out to me is Dennis Johnson. Pretty close statistically. DJ ws a much better defender. But if DJ is in, I think Parker has a good chance even with just playing good ball the next couple of years. Another championship or possibly an All-Star nod clinches it.
Speaking of point guards in the Hall of Fame, I've never figured out how Calvin Murphy made it. An All-Star only once. No championships, he only made it to the playoffs six times in his 13 seasons. No All-NBA teams. He was a three-time All-American in college but he was basically a low percentage chucker who led his team to a total of one tournament victory.
There's no way he should be a Hall of Famer. Someone like Sean Elliott, who rightfully has never been mentioned as a possible Hall of Famer, has a much better case:
NBA championship
Two-time NBA All-Star
Two-time All-American in college
Wooden Award winner in college
Led Arizona, a school that had never done anything, to a Final Four and a Sweet 16
Elliott >>>> Murphy
Good call. I was looking through his stats to see if there was something maybe hidden in there but can't figure it out. Do players ever get inducted if there is a lack of good choices for any particular year?
I don't think that happens and it certainly didn't happen in Murphy's year -- a class that included Julius Erving, Bill Walton (undeniably one of the handful of greatest college players ever; a relevant question at the Basketball HOF), Dan Issel, and Walt Bellamy among NBA inductees.
I think Murphy's induction lies almost entirely in 3 numbers: 38.2, 32.4, and 29.4 -- his annual scoring averages in college, which were much more impressive of a guy who wasn't even 6 feet tall back when nobody cared much about efficiency.
If it's not that, I suppose it can be rationalized by noting that with the development of more advanced metrics, the two players who are most similar to him historically are Bob Cousy and Earl Monroe and that he's relatively similar to Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas, and Lenny Wilkens. Then again, Jason Terry and Andre Miller are also similar players historically and neither of those guys is going to Springfield.
Last edited by FromWayDowntown; 02-10-2012 at 11:32 AM.
Props to Parker but if he lays another egg in the playoffs all this is moot.
He should make the Hall, a few more playoff runs after duncan and manu retire (if possible) and a medal in the Olympics would solitify it IMO.
Just by looking at the success Parker has already achieved he will probably make the Hall of Fame. Three les and a finals MVP make opposition difficult. When you look beyond the numbers the case becomes even more compelling. I have watched Parker play just about his entire career, and I can say with confidence that I believe if he had played on a team without a sure fire Hall of Famer (Duncan) and another probable Hall of Famer (Manu) his individual numbers would be much higher. The same could be said for the other two members of the big 3. They shared the ball perfectly and as a result achieved amazing team success.
Parker has never been on a team that won less than 50 games in a season. He has never missed the playoffs. He was a main cog in achieving those feats. Given what this franchise has accomplished over the last decade and a half I think the entire big 3 should enter the Hall.
great stuff mercos... i agree that when it is all said in done that all three will be in the hall. Manu's international play is just too much for him not to get in.
Let me also add that if it wasn't for those two horribly bad games against Memphis, Parker has always been able to take up the challenge comes PO time.
However, IMO, Parker is not a lock yet. He needs to prove that he can keep on contributing in his 30s when his speed decreases (just like Manu and Duncan)
Parker's already a lock to be in the hall IMO. First Euro to win a finals MVP sealed it.
DJ didn't get in for the longest time so might be the same for Parker.
The only reason Manu makes it (if he does) is based on his overall international career overseas. Overall he doesn't have a very impressive NBA resume (other than 3 NBA championships he won just because he was on this team). As for Tony, I can see Tony making it. He's been racking up the NBA achievements and if he can accomplish a medal overseas I can see that sealing it for him.great stuff mercos... i agree that when it is all said in done that all three will be in the hall. Manu's international play is just too much for him not to get in.
Parker is a surefire HOFer, even if he did nothing else the rest of his career. Being a top 3 piece of a 3x NBA Champion core seals it, the 4 All Star nods only help make it a no doubter. Hopefully he can add more as TD and Manu age or retire.
ESPN had a "roundtable" try to assess whether certain international players were HOF-worthy.
The link speaks for itself, but as of July 2011, the results were as follows -
Is Manu Ginobili a hall of famer?
David Thorpe: He is, indeed.
Jay Alch: Absolutely
Rob Mahoney: Absolutely
Jonathan Santiago: (Yes)
Jared Wade: Yes.
Is Tony Parker a hall of famer?
David Thorpe: Yes.
Jay Alch: Yes.
Rob Mahoney: Maybe.
Jonathan Santiago: Iffy
Jared Wade: Nope.
If he didn't play on a team with other HOF's, he'd be Iverson wouldn't he? Great scoreer, but probably not able to lead his team to a championship.
No, I don't think he would be Iverson. Much better play maker and shoots a higher percentage than Iverson did. Parker scores a ton of easy baskets and shoots a very high percentage around the rim. As I have heard even our opponent's broadcasters admit, he is one of the best finishers of all time, especially in traffic.
Now, could he lead a team like the 2007 Cavaliers to a championship? No, but neither could Lebron James, and he has the potential to go down as the greatest player of all time if he continues to improve. Parker's scoring numbers would go up if he didn't play with two HoFers like Duncan and Ginobili who had the ball in their hands a lot. His assist numbers would go up from not sharing play maker duties with Ginobili. We are seeing that happen now.
Well, Iverson is a Hall of Famer too.
I think Parker, up to now, would probably make the Hall but have to wait a while to be selected. The rest of his career will basically dictate how many years he has to wait to be inducted.
I wasn't diminishing Iverson or trying to exactly equate their games. Just the point about prolific scoring and not winning a ring. And no doubt Parker's scoring would increase. Not sure about the assists going up. Not having Duncan might offset that.
Also, it's much more farfetched that a amall point guard can lead a team to win a championship than a great SG or SF. Unless you're talking about someone like Magic. Although, we'll never really know what he could have done with mediocre role players.
Since I'm in a nostalgic mood this morning:
"Chris Whitney > Tony Parker"
Good times.
It's actually worth noting that most of these guys mentioned Parker's lack of success on the international stage (contrary to Manu, Pau or Dirk), but since then he lead France to a silver medal in the Euro while being the best scorer of the tournament. There was just nothing France could do against Spain in the final game... but that's one more line to Parker's already impressive list of accomplishments.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
