Current Players that will be Hall of Famers

[easjer]

Can't wait to hear. Your analysis is generally spot on. I enjoy reading your takes.

[B and P Cats]

How about Robert Horry? Doesn't he have the most championship rings of any current player? That counts for something. Terry Bradshaw has always said he got into the Football Hall of Fame because he won so many championships, not because of his personal play.

[mikejones99]

TD KG Mnu Parker Kobe Shaq Horry Marion, Nash, Amare, Bowen, SJax, Wade, Lebron and YAO and tmac are all in.

[batboy]

How about Robert Horry? Doesn't he have the most championship rings of any current player? That counts for something. Terry Bradshaw has always said he got into the Football Hall of Fame because he won so many championships, not because of his personal play.

Kerr and Horry are locks for sheer number of deep playoff appearances and clutch plays. Anyone who has watched playoff basketball in the last two decades knows who these guys are, in many cases all too well.

[ambchang]

Dirk is a virtual lock. I can't think of any MVPs who's not in the HoF.
The HoF isn't as difficult to get in as it should.
Dirk's career, at least individually, is definitely more impressive than HoFers:
Joe Dumars
Robert Parish
James Worthy
Alex English
Gail Goodrich
George Yardley
Dan Issel
Connie Hawkins
Dave Bing
Neil Johnston
and a whole host of others.

Tony Parker is not likely to get in based on his current accomplishments.
Yes, 3 rings, but he was a 3rd option in 03 and 05, and only became a leader figure in 07. His international accomplishments weren't that pronounced, and he had no college career to speak of. He probably would make it if he continues winning championships and leads France to greater success in international compe ion, but at this point? I woulld.
Horry and Kerr, no chance. They made memorable plays in the playoffs, but you don't see Gar Heard in the Hall. Those members of the 60's Celtics set a bad precedent, and the Hall has smartened up ever since.

[Amarelooms]

TD KG Mnu Parker Kobe Shaq Horry Marion, Nash, Amare, Bowen, SJax, Wade, Lebron and YAO and tmac are all in.

Manu, Horry, MARION, BOWEN and STEVEN IN JACKSON??????????????? BTW Dirk is better than all those players....

You are a dumb ...please stop posting

[FromWayDowntown]

I think that Mourning will get in. At Tony's current pace, I'd have to say that he'll be borderline, but not make it. Same with Yao.

As for Wade, he's definitely on pace to make the hall, however so were Penny and Grant Hill. Injuries is the biggest thing standing in his way.

I think Mourning will get in because he had a very good collegiate career -- that counts at the Naismith museum -- and a solid NBA career. As cynical as it sounds, it helps 'Zo's case to have had the kidney problems, because it allows for all sorts of "what if" speculation. According to Basketball Reference's Hall of Fame probability monitor, Zo's on about the same level as some pretty good players from their generations (Bernard King, Marques Johnson, Satch Sanders, Mark Aguirre) who aren't in. I think, when push comes to shove that Zo probably gets in, but I'd bet he'll have to wait quite a while to get there.

Parker, ironically, is the player immediately behind 'Zo in the Hall of Fame monitor rankings. I'm far less sold on Tony's HOF qualifications at this point than I am on Manu's, if only because of Manu's unrivaled international resume. Tony probably needs a few more All-Star games and a dominant international performance to improve his chances for enshrinement.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Basketball Hall of Fame hasn't historically enshrined many players for their NBA exploits. Outside of the top 50 players of All-Time, I count only 37 primarily-NBA players who've made the cut. Those guys either have tremendous NBA resumes -- of the 37 guys who didn't make the 50 at 50 list, 26 are players whose accomplishments in the NBA put them in Basketball Reference's Top 101 all-time in the Hall of Fame monitor category; the guys who aren't in that category generally guys who had exceptional collegiate or Olympic careers to go along with really good NBA careers (like David Thompson, Dan Issel, Calvin Murphy, Connie Hawkins, Bill Bradley, Tom Gola). This isn't the Hall of Guys Who Were Top 20 Players During Stretches of Their Careers. To get into the Hall, your NBA resume has to be quite impressive, or you'd better have some really remarkable exploits on another major level.

[FromWayDowntown]

I agree that excluding Dirk from the Hall of Fame is pretty much ridiculous at this point. That's very different, though, than whether he would be included in a revised list of the Top 50 players of All-Time.

[FromWayDowntown]

Horry and Kerr, no chance. They made memorable plays in the playoffs, but you don't see Gar Heard in the Hall. Those members of the 60's Celtics set a bad precedent, and the Hall has smartened up ever since.

I think the best argument for counting Horry out is the fact that Michael Cooper isn't ever mentioned as a Hall of Famer. Cooper had a much better career from an individual standpoint -- he was even DPOY at least once and made All-Defense teams 8 different times during his career -- and was a substantial part of 5 le-winners to Horry's 7 (and counting . . .).

I can certainly appreciate Horry's well-earned reputation as a great clutch player and could see that the Hall might even have an exhibit detailing the reasons for that reputation, but I don't see numbers or enough grand accomplishments to support Horry ever being inducted into the Hall.

[J.T.]

Dirk