The basketball hall of fame is such a joke. There are so many people who earned the right to get in but have inexplicably been kept out. I don't mind high standards, but they can't be all that high if Bill Bradley got in.

Xeris

Iran17695 Posts

September 12 2009 05:59 GMT

#1185

Tex Winter >_>

it's an insult to basketball that he's not in there.

city42

1656 Posts

September 12 2009 07:09 GMT

#1186

I agree that Winter should get in for obvious reasons, but there are even greater injustices out there. The most obvious one is Dennis Johnson. There is absolutely no weakness in his hall of fame candidacy. Finals MVP, 3 titles (not Steve Kerr titles, but titles won while being an integral member of the team), perennial all-NBA defense, switched to lead guard to help his new team win, very clutch, etc. The man passed away and they still won't let him in.

Another head scratcher is Guy Lewis. Elvin Hayes, Hakeem, and Clyde the Glide all came out of his program at Houston, and he would have had a title if not for the single most heartbreaking finish in basketball history when NC State pulled a miracle in 1983 or 84. He was a great coach who definitely deserves to get in. Another guy who can't get voted in for some reason is Bernard King. If nothing else, he was the first guy who actually recovered from a severe ACL injury, which was basically a death sentence until recent sports medicine advances. His example probably helped to save the careers of countless players in the last 20 years. He was already well on his way to becoming a top 5 scorer in NBA history as well as an impossibly strong playoff performer (check his numbers in the 84 playoffs...those aren't typos). After the injury robbed him of all his explosiveness, he still managed to become a 29 ppg scorer again.

Artis Gilmore? Buck Williams? Bobby Jones? Sidney Moncrief? Dennis Rodman is almost guaranteed not to get in even though he's one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players of all time. The Hall makes very weird choices and it's all done behind closed doors, unlike baseball which tells you the exact percent of the vote a candidate received.

Judicator

United States7270 Posts

September 12 2009 12:42 GMT

#1187

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgxMMXmwiwY89Xne.bwGPEO8vLYF?slug=aw-jordanhall091209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Interesting read. I was hoping he settled things with Krause and the others too :\

citi.zen

2509 Posts

September 13 2009 02:54 GMT

#1188

I found that to be an overreaction by Woj. Jordan did not behave out-of-character in any way. He never tried to "settle scores", he just told stories MJ style. He was candid too, rather than making the usual insipid speech Woj might have expected (the last bit, where he read the thanks and names from a piece of paper was far less entertaining to me).

This is the same guy who made a bet with a teammate about whose bag would come up 1st off the conveyor bet in the airport, then bribed the airport staff to make sure it was his. Not only that, he also always bragged and laughed about the story! This is exactly the MJ we know - competitive to no end, never afraid to take on anyone in any setting, always trying to win at... everything. To ask him to stop because "you've already won" is asking him to stop being MJ.

Now... his GM career (in Charlotte and even Wash) is a joke, here Woj is right, but this is a discussion for another night. Many hall of famers were pretty bad at coaching or being a GM.

Servolisk

United States5241 Posts

September 13 2009 02:59 GMT

#1189

I was about to post that too. I think that guy is trying too hard with his NBA reprimands. He has done it to a lot now, like Lebron after he didn't shake hands. Kind of annoying, he is criticizing others for their BM with even further BM. He really pushes his caricaturization.

I watched some of the MJ speech and the things he said about Jeff Van Gundy or Byron Russel for example, were not really harsh, and kind of funny. Like Byron Russel was talking trash to MJ when he was in baseball and MJ humorously tells how he felt about it and what happened. I think everyone prefers an open MJ and his real thoughts rather than some cliche retirement/award speech with nothing to think about.

Also MJ acknowledged Lebron and Kobe, saying they have the potential to surpass him.

edit: Also I think it is a general trend for Yahoo to spin every headline, like this one which calls MJ petty. I see it every time I sign out of email. They are like Fox News but without a political agenda.

edit 2: for comparison, see ESPN's story title, vs Yahoo's which called him petty:
"Jordan's Moment

He thanked supporters often and his detractors even more. MJ's final call at the Hall was simply unforgettable. Justin Verrier"

Servolisk

United States5241 Posts

September 13 2009 03:10 GMT

#1190

On September 13 2009 11:54 citi.zen wrote:
Now... his GM career (in Charlotte and even Wash) is a joke, here Woj is right, but this is a discussion for another night. Many hall of famers were pretty bad at coaching or being a GM.

Have to say his GM career did not go well, but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt since he is MJ.

In Was his biggest mistake was drafting Kwame Brown. It is kind of like the Darko draft, everyone had him going at that spot and every other GM was going to do it + the rest of the draft sucked. Business wise he probably helped that ailing franchise a lot by becoming a player.

Charlotte appears to be bad although he hasn't had much to work with. But I don't get trading for JRich (even though the guy they gave up was worthless) and then trading him for guys like Boris Diaw and Raja Bell. The two of them maybe can help get the Bobcats to the middle for a few years, but JR could be a piece of a better team if they ever had the pieces. And WTF was Okafor for Chandler about, there had to be some better deal out there.

RowdierBob

Australia13433 Posts

September 13 2009 03:16 GMT

#1191

Is there anyone cooler in the history of the world than MJ?

ChezGod

United States590 Posts

September 13 2009 03:22 GMT

#1192

My favorite MJ commercial:

igotmyown

United States4291 Posts

September 13 2009 03:45 GMT

#1193

On September 13 2009 11:59 Servolisk wrote:
Also MJ acknowledged Lebron and Kobe, saying they have the potential to surpass him.

What? It was more like different eras of basketball players have different great players, lebron and kobe are this eras great players, and people should stop trying to be the next Jordan. How is that surpass?

il0seonpurpose

Korea (South)5638 Posts

September 13 2009 03:45 GMT

#1194

Yeah I read the yahoo interview before watching the speech and was confused at how the writer could talk about MJ that way. I really hope MJ comes back, that would be soo awesome, he could play for the Bobcats and be the coach. His jumper is still sick

citi.zen

2509 Posts

September 13 2009 04:21 GMT

#1195

On September 13 2009 11:59 Servolisk wrote:
I was about to post that too. I think that guy is trying too hard with his NBA reprimands. He has done it to a lot now, like Lebron after he didn't shake hands. Kind of annoying, he is criticizing others for their BM with even further BM. He really pushes his caricaturization.

Agreed, he is trying to write "sensational" news and gets overly dramatic on everyone.

Also MJ acknowledged Lebron and Kobe, saying they have the potential to surpass him.

Not to mention he clearly states at the very beginning that in every win you never saw MJ alone, Scottie was always there for him.

In the end I thought everyone's personality showed in the ceremony, which was cool: Robinson had his faith/religion, Stockton was the modest, solid, hard working family guy, and MJ was MJ. People don't change that much after their late 30s.

BTW: Sloan's speech was the best for me.

city42

1656 Posts

September 13 2009 06:11 GMT

#1196

I was pretty surprised that Isiah accepted Stockton's request to be his HOF inductor. There was a big fuss about Stockton getting on the Dream Team instead of Isiah, and Isiah tried to run the score up on him when they played in the regular season. Karl Malone then split Isiah's face open and that was the end of that.

tiffany

3664 Posts

September 13 2009 06:33 GMT

#1197

well isaiah not making the team was more jordan's doing than stockton's. surprising choice nevertheless

city42

1656 Posts

September 13 2009 06:43 GMT

#1198

I totally agree that Jordan was the one calling the shots, but Isiah's outrage was channeled toward Stockton. This was not a coincidence:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199111150DET.html

unknown.sam

Philippines2701 Posts

September 13 2009 13:28 GMT

#1199

On September 13 2009 15:33 tiffany wrote:
well isaiah not making the team was more jordan's doing than stockton's. surprising choice nevertheless

yeah i heard jordan was the reason for isiah not making the team...
what exactly was jordan's beef with zeke all about anyway??