Weakest potential HOF class in awhile

[Roy H.]

San Antonio Spurs legend and four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili and WNBA legends Swin Cash and Lindsay Whalen headlined the 11 finalists from the North American and Women's Committees for the Naismith Hall of Fame Class of 2022.

The other eight finalists were: former Los Angeles Laker Michael Cooper; former Milwaukee Bucks forward Marques Johnson; longtime NBA referee Hugh Evans; longtime college coach Bob Huggins; longtime NBA coach George Karl; women's college and WNBA coach Marianne Stanley; five-time All-Star Tim Hardaway; and Texas girls' high school basketball coach Leta Andrews.

Manu is in.  Hopefully Karl is out.  Johnson is borderline.

Cooper is the interesting one to me.  He is an important player on a dynasty.  Is that enough?  Precedent with K.C. Jones says yes.  He was an excellent defender who Larry tipped his cap to.

But Cooper, like Jones, would be largely forgotten except for the team he played for..  Put Cooper on the Nets, and we’re not having this discussion.

[slamtheking]

very weak class of nominees. 

[moiso]

Ginobili is the only one I'd like to see in there.  No way Cooper would be considered to be a potential Hall of Famer if we didn't think of Magic and Showtime when we think of him.  I generally prefer Hall of Famers to be great former players and wish the NBA would have it's own Hall of Fame that didn't include women's college coaches, European refs, etc.  I'd like the NBA to do away with the greatest 50 and greatest 75 nonsense and just have a very strict Hall of Fame mainly for truly great players and maybe the occasional Auerbach/Popovich.

[Who]

I love Marques Johnson. He is my favourite player off those late 1970s to late 1980s Bucks teams. Terrific player and well deserving of being in the HoF.

[Chef Parish]

How does Leta Andrews NOT have her own thread that goes well in the double pages of posts?

[Donoghus]

Manu, Whalen, & Cash seem like no brainers.  I agree, though, weak class.

[Who]

I was watching a game from 1997 and the announcer was referring to Horace Grant as a "superstar role player" while taking about his contract, pay grade and role. I forget the announcer; a former player. Someone who has a major impact on winning without the gaudy stat-lines.

Anyway, seeing Michael Cooper's name here just reminded me of that. A Superstar Role Player. About as good a glue guy as you could hope to find on the perimeter. Near All-Star status / impact like Horace Grant was (Grant got 1 ASG in a weak year).



Edit: It was Julius Erving during the halftime show. He put a label on Horace to help you understand him and called him the "prototype superstar role player" -- fitting for Michael Cooper. Erving used Dennis Rodman as an example. Another example was Dennis Johnson during his years in Boston.

[bdm860]

So I haven't seen anything posted on it, but the Hall of Famers were announced over the weekend.

Tim Hardaway made it in which I'm really surprised by.  Always thought of that guy as the type of star whose clearly a tier below Hall of Fame caliber (would compare to guys like John Wall, Kemba Walker, DeMar DeRozen today).  But bball-reference had his HOF probability at 79.2%, so maybe it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Funny enough, when I was searching to see if anybody posted on this years HOF selections, I found this old post of mine from 2012, where I'm arguing Grant Hill isn't HOF worthy and comparing him to guys like Chris Webber, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, and later Bernard King (all of whom are now in the Hall).  Clearly I have no clue what I'm talking about.

Do you all think Hardaway should be in the HOF?

[RJD1974]

So I haven't seen anything posted on it, but the Hall of Famers were announced over the weekend.

Tim Hardaway made it in which I'm really surprised by.  Always thought of that guy as the type of star whose clearly a tier below Hall of Fame caliber (would compare to guys like John Wall, Kemba Walker, DeMar DeRozen today).  But bball-reference had his HOF probability at 79.2%, so maybe it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Funny enough, when I was searching to see if anybody posted on this years HOF selections, I found this old post of mine from 2012, where I'm arguing Grant Hill isn't HOF worthy and comparing him to guys like Chris Webber, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, and later Bernard King (all of whom are now in the Hall).  Clearly I have no clue what I'm talking about.

Do you all think Hardaway should be in the HOF?

Depends.

In his day, he was definitely in the "Try to emulate his knuckeball shot" HOF.

[Who]

Funny enough, when I was searching to see if anybody posted on this years HOF selections, I found this old post of mine from 2012, where I'm arguing Grant Hill isn't HOF worthy and comparing him to guys like Chris Webber, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, and later Bernard King (all of whom are now in the Hall).  Clearly I have no clue what I'm talking about.

Do you all think Hardaway should be in the HOF?

I'm not sure. I'm not sure he accomplished enough (individual or team based) to justify it but I could see making the argument based on an injury exception similar to Chris Webber who I also do not believe accomplished enough (individually or team based).

I have to say I am very happy that Timmy Hardaway is going to be in the HoF. He was one of the my favourite players in the 90s. He was so exciting to watch. That killer crossover of his in the early 90s before the knee injury was incredible to watch. Best crossover dribble ever! (before guys were allowed carry the ball post-Iverson)

He was also a ballsy player who took and made a number of huge shots. So many spectacular moments. He didn't create enough high percentage looks for himself so he relied on tough shots to score most of the time but he hit enough of them to be a lot of fun to watch. It was his ball-handling and passing that made him a special offensive player in addition to that tough shot-making ability.

It is a shame we didn't get to see more of that early Tim Hardaway who was a legit 20-10 guy and one of the most exciting small guards to ever play.

[slamtheking]

So I haven't seen anything posted on it, but the Hall of Famers were announced over the weekend.

Tim Hardaway made it in which I'm really surprised by.  Always thought of that guy as the type of star whose clearly a tier below Hall of Fame caliber (would compare to guys like John Wall, Kemba Walker, DeMar DeRozen today).  But bball-reference had his HOF probability at 79.2%, so maybe it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Funny enough, when I was searching to see if anybody posted on this years HOF selections, I found this old post of mine from 2012, where I'm arguing Grant Hill isn't HOF worthy and comparing him to guys like Chris Webber, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, and later Bernard King (all of whom are now in the Hall).  Clearly I have no clue what I'm talking about.

Do you all think Hardaway should be in the HOF?

hardaway was an allstar player in his prime.  had a better NBA career than Manu talent-wise but Manu has some real non-NBA credentials.   the thing I'll always remember about Hardaway was he was picked after the C's threw their pick away on that waste of space Michael Smith.

[Roy H.]

Do you all think Hardaway should be in the HOF?

He makes it in if you appreciate the "how does he match up with the bottom 10% of guys who are already in the Hall" argument.

I never really thought of him as a Hall of Famer.  "Only" five All-Star appearances, no titles, no great college accomplishments.  He did win a gold medal internationally.  In his favor:  Four All-NBA first or second team selections.  But, to me, being a top-10 player four times isn't enough to be a HOFer on its own.

[Kernewek]

Do you all think Hardaway should be in the HOF?

He makes it in if you appreciate the "how does he match up with the bottom 10% of guys who are already in the Hall" argument.

I never really thought of him as a Hall of Famer.  "Only" five All-Star appearances, no titles, no great college accomplishments.  He did win a gold medal internationally.  In his favor:  Four All-NBA first or second team selections.  But, to me, being a top-10 player four times isn't enough to be a HOFer on its own.

He was the T in Run TMC, so that nudges him in for me.

[Donoghus]

I never really thought Hardaway as being a HOFer but given some of the guys already in the HOF, I think its only mildly egregious.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I haven't reviewed Tim Hardaway's stats in a long time, but I've never thought of him as a HOFer. I think of him as "all-time good" but not "all-time great," if that makes sense.