Coach, who has won nine NBA les with the Lakers and Bulls, is among seven to be inducted.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
10:51 AM PDT, April 2, 2007
The ZEN MASTER
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, whose nine NBA championships tie him with Red Auerbach for the most in NBA history, headlined a class of seven to be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in September.
Jackson, 61, guided the Lakers to three championships this decade and the Chicago Bulls to six in the 1990s.
"It's remarkable, especially for a coach," Jackson said. "As a player, a lot of it's for your individual achievements and actions. As a coach, it's about a group of guys that have worked together in a joined effort. It also reflects decidedly on the organizations I've had great success with here in L.A. and Chicago in the '90s. I'm very humbled by the award."
The induction ceremony will take place in September at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
Shining stars who belong in the Hall of Fame
By Ken Shouler
ESPN.com
Archive
With the election of Joe Dumars last year and the nomination of Adrian Dantley and Chris Mullin this year, we've seen a brighter spotlight on some of the supporting stars of the 1980s and '90s.
So, I started to wonder, which other players in this category deserve Hall of Fame recognition?
I'm not talking about all-time greats like David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton and others, who should expect immediate induction when they are eligible.
I'm thinking instead of complementary players, who tend to be overlooked but who were nonetheless essential to their teams.
Since Dantley and Mullin have received recognition already by being finalists this year, I won't include them here, even though they are still on the outside looking in. I made the case for Dantley a year ago, and Mullin is also a strong candidate.
In ranked order, here are the next five supporting stars from the 1980s and '90s I would like to see in Springfield:
Dennis Rodman
Sorry, Charles, but Rodman is by far the best rebounding non-center in basketball history. He led the league in rebounding seven times (more than great rebounding forwards Bob Pet , Elgin Baylor, Jerry Lucas and Charles Barkley combined). But not only was he winning rebounding les, he was blowing the compe ion to smithereens.
In 1992, he had 18.7 rebounds per game to runner-up Kevin Willis' 15.5.
In 1993, he had 18.3 to Shaquille O'Neal's 13.9.
In 1994, he bested O'Neal again, 17.3 to 13.2.
In 1995, he outdistanced Dikembe Mutombo 16.8 to 12.3.
In 1996, he beat David Robinson 14.9 to 12.2.
In 1997, he really left Mutombo in the dust, 16.1 to 11.6.
And, in 1998, it was 15 for Rodman and 13.6 for Jayson Williams.
Even Wilt Chamberlain wasn't hammering the compe ion by such fat margins. With a wiry 6-7, 228-pound frame, Rodman was out-boarding behemoths.
Rodman often dove into the stands to get offensive rebounds, just to give his team one more shot. He owns the playoff record for 11 offensive boards in a single game, which he collected twice as a Chicago Bull in the 1996 Finals against Seattle.
Michael Jordan, who averaged 27 points but hit just 41 percent of his shots in the series, won the Finals MVP; Rodman, who averaged 15 rebounds per game, was just as deserving of the honor.
Rodman won seven NBA All-Defensive first team awards and was voted Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991.
Rest assured, he is also the only player who said he wanted to play a complete game in the nude. He was spirited, never dull. How about his lining up on the free-throw lane with his arms folded?
How his antics will mesh with the Hall's "total contribution" criterion for selection is hard to tell. But it says here that a player who has piled up these distinctions ought not to be shut out for wearing a wedding dress or changing his hair color each day of the week.
Rodman has been retired for the necessary five years to be eligible. But the trustees of the Hall of Fame can determine that if a candidate has "damaged the integrity of the game of basketball" he may be "deemed unworthy of enshrinement and removed from consideration."
Stay tuned.
Dennis Johnson
I argued for DJ's inclusion in the Hall last year. Since his No. 3 already has been raised to the rafters alongside other greats in Boston's makeshift heaven, all that remains is for the highest honor to be bestowed on him posthumously.
It's hard to figure what's kept him out. Here's one thought:
The great Celtics teams of the '80s boasted the famed threesome of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, who were all voted into the Hall. And perhaps because the Boston frontline was the greatest ever to draw breath, Johnson's shooting, passing and defense were not noted consistently, but only on special, now famous occasions.
Try finding another Finals MVP (1979 with the Sonics) who played on three le squads who isn't in the Hall. The only other player missing from the Hall with a Finals MVP who played on two le squads is Jo Jo White.
Dennis Johnson deserves entry into the Hall of Fame, but not because he's gone now. He deserves it because he was that good.
Bill Laimbeer
Laimbeer was once described as having the "vertical leap of an anchor." True enough.
But never mind. His tippy-toes 3-pointers are fixed in the mind's eye of anyone who recalls the rough-you-up Pistons, who made consecutive Finals trips from 1988 through 1990, winning the last two.
Laimbeer is the paradigm case of someone who was effective beyond his numbers. He did a lot of things that went unnoticed, like the 13 points and 13 rebounds he averaged against Portland in the 1990 Finals as Detroit won its second straight le.
Playing below the rim, Laimbeer was essential to the Pistons' defensive unit that flummoxed Chicago, mainly by applying "The Jordan Rules," from 1988 to '90. The Pistons' dominance culminated with a 93-74 strangling of Chicago in Game 7 of the conference finals in 1990, when they held the Bulls to 31 percent shooting.
A message to Hall of Fame voters: Dust off your record books and check out Laimbeer's consistency and durability.
Try counting the centers who hit 84 percent at the free-throw line and 49.8 percent from the field for their careers.
Mean Bill also had 1,000 rebounds three years in a row in the mid-'80s, before the Pistons started pumping.
Durable? The guy missed just nine games out of 1,075 in the first 13 years of his career. That is no misprint.
And the Hall won't take him?
I'll take him before I take 80 percent of today's centers. In the Pistons' three salad years he cost them a grand total of $2.3 million -- an average of under $800,000 per year.
I think Detroit came out ahead in the deal.
Kevin Johnson
KJ was a slithery blur attacking the basket. Whenever great, small guards are discussed, Johnson is overlooked. That shouldn't be.
His career stat line (17.9 points and 9.1 assists per game) compares favorably with Hall-of-Fame small guards Tiny Archibald (18.8, 7.4), Isiah Thomas (19.2, 9.3) and Bob Cousy (18.4, 7.5).
When Johnson was healthy enough to play 65 games or more (which he did in nine of his 13 seasons), he put up 19 to 22 points and nine to 12 assists per game.
His high-water mark was arguably the 1993 playoffs. Though he missed 33 games due to hamstring problems that season, KJ led the Suns to the Finals. With the Suns down 2-0 to the Bulls, Johnson set a Finals record by playing 62 minutes in Game 3 (all but one minute of a triple-overtime win) as he scored 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
With Phoenix facing elimination in Chicago, Johnson posted 25 points and eight assists in a 108-98 victory. Phoenix then lost Game 6 at home, as Johnson scored 19 points with 10 assists.
Maurice Cheeks
Mo Cheeks was a textbook point guard -- unselfish to his diminutive core, he always thought pass first. He had a career assists-to-turnover ratio of 3-to-1 and is still the 76ers' all-time assists leader (6,212) and steals leader (1,942).
A part of the 1983 Philadelphia squad that included "Celtic Killer" Andrew Toney, Julius Erving and MVP Moses Malone, Cheeks was always in control, distributing the ball. Philly ripped through the '83 playoffs with a 12-1 record, sweeping the defending champion Lakers in the Finals, where Cheeks contributed 15 points and six assists per game.
He shot 52 percent for his career and was selected to the NBA Defensive first team for four consecutive years (1983 to '86). A 15-year vet, Cheeks -- as with other non-sensational but durable Hall of Famers like Harry Gallatin and Jack Twyman -- played well enough and long enough to deserve Hall of Fame inclusion.
Honorable mentions
Besides this quintet, there are others who are Hall worthy. Mark Aguirre deserves a look, as do Paul Silas and Richie Guerin. You have to dig deeper to find them and others. But the digging is required if we are to have more than a Hall of Variety, in which coaches of all stripes, women, international players and broadcasters are passed through ahead of the greats of the NBA and ABA.
Ken Shouler is the editor of and a writer for "Total Basketball: The Ultimate Basketball Encyclopedia." To e-mail him, click here.
Phil Jackson is the Greatest Basketball Mind EVER!!!!!!
It is a shame that the Zen Man has to share his induction to the Hall of Fame with anyone...
Dennis Johnson and Kevin Johnson belong for sure. Let's not cheapen the Hall Of Fame with Rodman or Laimbeer tho.
Props to Phil Jackson.
As for Rodman, it would be ridiculous to consider his personality and personal activities as part of the selection process to be inducted into the HOF. I loved Rodman when he played, he was enthusiastic, athletic, skilled, loyal and always played hard. Phil Jackson could handle him just fine, not all players can be treated the same and it's bull if you think Rodman didn't help *market* the NBA. Anyway, if Rodman's personal off-court activities is going to hurt him then so should Wilt's and Magic's. It would be a shame to leave him out.
Hey, despite his antics, Rodman was a great player and played for 5 championship teams
I think you've gotta do more than be a one-trick pony to make it to the HOF. That's why Rodman is out.
Really? I mean Rodman HAS to go down as one of the greatest rebounders in NBA history. And considering his height (he wasn't even a 7 footer) I find that to be quite remarkable. His defense was very solid as well. I see where you're coming from, but to be one of the greatest at something in the history of the game, even if it is just one thing, still says a lot. I mean, if it was the greatest free throw shooter of all time I'd understand why that player would need to have done more to merit a spot in the HOF, but rebounds are a huge, huge part of basketball, and you absolutely have to give the guy consideration. God knows how many games and rings he led to thanks to his crucial rebounding.
Rodman was only a one-trick pony if you focus on stats. He was an NBA All-Defensive First teamer 7 times.
I wouldn't put any of those guys into the Hall. The only one I'd even think twice about is KJ. DJ was a great player in the clutch, and a of a defender, but if you let him in then you gotta let playoff heroes like Horry in too. Out of all of those guys, KJ is the only one you could begin to consider as a franchise player.
don't you have to do at least a little something on the offensive end? He started off looking like he might early on, but it got to a point where it was 4 on 5 basketball when his team had the ball.
Hall of Famers don't quit on their teams in the biggest series in franchise history either. Rodman in the HOF is ridiculous.
I don't think so. Not if you're among the elite defenders of all time, which I think Rodman is.don't you have to do at least a little something on the offensive end? He started off looking like he might early on, but it got to a point where it was 4 on 5 basketball when his team had the ball.
Not saying it's not debatable... I'm not even really trying to say he deserves it... Just that if he got in, it would be for more than his rebounding.
* cough ** cough *
So should 1984 NBA Finals MVP, Cornbread Maxwell, be in the hall too?
Rodman was a two-dimensional player.
But then you could argue Nash doesn't deserve to make it down the line since he doesn't play any defense.
I think a 7 time nba all defensive teamer has to deserve recognition.
he's also got 5 rings and he was integral part to each of those teams
bitter are we?
If anything, some of those teams were lucky Horry was even on the team (IE 2002 Lakers, 2005 Spurs)
Next
haha i still remember Danny Ainge getting a towel in the face.
If Laimbeer makes it, we aren't too far off from Horry making it.
winning a few MVP trophies along the way puts Nash far ahead of Rodman. And as great as rebounds are, I don't think anybody can believe that they matter as much as points and assists.
I believe Jo Jo White only played for one championship squad.* cough *
So should 1984 NBA Finals MVP, Cornbread Maxwell, be in the hall too?
BTW, I thought that line was random and doesn't make much sense. Tim Duncan won Finals MVP and only on one championship squad, so what?
Aren't the Suns the only team Horry played for that doesn't have a championship? No wonder he was pissed then.
Leave it to Laker fan to get it wrong....Phil actually has 10 rings...he won one as a player with the Knicks.
Seriously...I think there are a number of things wrong about Phil Jackson, but being a basketball coach is not one of them. , he got Kobe and Shaq to co-exist long enough to win three les. Although I love to watch Laker fans freak out when I call him "the 2nd best basketball coach in LA" (then when I say John Wooden is #1 they calm down.) Phil deserves to be in the HOF.
Last edited by samikeyp; 04-03-2007 at 10:33 PM.
Leave it to Laker fan to get it wrong....Phil actually has 10 rings...he won one as a player with the Knicks.
Seriously...I think there are a number of things wrong about Phil Jackson, but being a basketball coach is not one of them. , he got Kobe and Shaq to co-exist long enough to win three les. Although I love to watch Laker fans freak out when I call him "the 2nd best basketball coach in LA" (then when I say John Wooden is #1 they calm down.
No he has 10 asshole. He is in the HOF because of his 9 coaching les not because he played bench in a team that won the le (KNICKS).
Relax man....it was a joke..hence the smiley.
I wasn't doggin' Phil.
Last edited by samikeyp; 04-04-2007 at 05:56 PM.
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