12/21/24
March 10, 2003
The candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame were announced today,: and boy are my arms tired. No, wait. Parish is an obvious choice, but what about the rest of them? You can make an excellent case for Chick Hearn... but Johnny Most isn't in there. Worthy and DJ have been passed over before. Who deserves it, and who's gonna be passed over unfairly?
posted by Bryant to basketball at 05:01 PM - 3 comments
Personally, if a guy made the all-time 50 greatest players list, he should be in the HOF, no contest. This would mean Parish and Worthy. I still don't get why Worthy didn't make it on the first ballot. Maurice Cheeks should get in, maybe not on the first go-round, but he will make it (I hope it is this year, though). Dennis Johnson, also, should eventually get in, but probably not this year. Chick Hearn will get in, and Lefty also has a shot IMO, if mostly for tenure.
posted by bcb2k2 at 10:00 PM on March 10, 2003
I think DJ ought to get it; at worst he's the third best point guard of the 80s. Worthy ought to have been in on his first try, of course. I'd agree with Cheeks getting in, and I think Hearn should get in, but you really can't put Hearn in and not Most. Meadowlark Lemon, absolutely.
posted by Bryant at 06:20 AM on March 11, 2003
Parish for sure. Worthy ought to get in as well. Chick Hearn and Meadowlark Lemon in their specialized categories probably deserve to be enshrined I have a soft spot for DJ since he was an integral part of Seattle's only pro championship ever but I think he's pretty borderline. Mo Cheeks is eligible too. I think you can make a pretty convincing case for him. All time steals leader ever, multi-time all star and first team defensive, top five in assists, class act, played in Philly, won a title. Both Lefty Driessel and Eddie Sutton have impressive coaching records...but what is the standard they are up against? John Wooden, Dean Smith, and Phog Allen? Probably not their time, then.