The Basketball HOF now includes

Justacommeman

No surprises there



mark

PSASAP

Chairman Mao was not elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, but he is in the Communist Leaders Hall of Fame.

Justacommeman

Originally posted by: PSASAP

Chairman Mao was not elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, but he is in the Communist Leaders Hall of Fame.

A great typo and thanks for the catch



mark

telephoto1

Shaq made an appearance in the ring at WrestleMania last night so now he stands a chance at getting into the celeb wing of the WWE HOF as well....

SDSportsFan

One important note about the Basketball HOF inductions this year, for those who didn't recognize the name:



Cumberland (Cum) Posey, who is on the list of inductees, is the same Cum Posey who was inducted into the Baseball HOF back in 2006 (as a Negro Leaguer - team owner of the Homestead Grays).





Steve

craig44

I fail to see how Yao played at a high enough level for long enough to earn this honor. He was injured too much I believe.

PSASAP

Yao's contributions to the game (opening up the NBA to China, and all the trillions of dollars of future revenue that promises) is more of an impact than 90% of the players made on the court. It's all about the Benjamins, of course.

craig44

Basketball was already huge in China before Yao. Maybe he should be in as a contributor, but certainly not as a player

telephoto1

On a certain level I like Yao but I'm inclined to agree about his induction being more political than based on performance. However I'm more than willing to listen to any dazzling well- reasoned argument from his fans about why he deserves the HOF based on any reasons other than political ones.

jay0791

I agree. Mao is not a hofer

Justacommeman

Doesn't bother me in the least. He was a 20/10 guy and made the All-Star Team 8 times. No doubt with Yao being China's most decorated athlete that lead to his induction and a few extra all star games.



mark

PSASAP

Yao has better numbers than Bill Walton, who got in based on his college career and the one great year he had with the Blazers in 1976-77. If the voters can make a case for Walton, it's not hard to justify Yao's place in the hall. He averaged 25 points a game at the height of his career, was an 80% or better free throw shooter every season, and was a force in the low block. It's too bad his feet couldn't stand the rigors of a full season, because he would have put up big numbers.

jay0791

Did Ralph Sampson get in on a college resume also???

Walton also??

Every HOF has its few inductees that people don't agree with.

In baseball they still cry over George Kell and Bill Mazeroski

craig44

I agree, Walton got in on his college career. But this is the basketball hall of fame, not the nba hof. Yao doesn't have that dazzling college career to add to his nba career. He only played in 500 nba games. Definitely not a hofer.

PSASAP

This YouTube video is a good indication of the skill set Yao brought to the NBA.

Link

dallasactuary

Originally posted by: craig44
I agree, Walton got in on his college career. But this is the basketball hall of fame, not the nba hof. Yao doesn't have that dazzling college career to add to his nba career. He only played in 500 nba games. Definitely not a hofer.

He doesn't have a college career, but the Rockets didn't pick him off the streets in China - he did play basketball over there before he came here, and he continued to play on the Chinese national team after he came here.

I still agree with you that he's not a HOFer, but he's probably not as far away as your description places him.

PSASAP

Who cares, he's in.

telephoto1

Originally posted by: PSASAP
This YouTube video is a good indication of the skill set Yao brought to the NBA.

Link

I did like the little behind the back move but that "top ten" was mostly Yao slamming over shorter guys. Maybe it's just me but I'm not seeing hof-level awesomeness there.

Estil

In Shaq's case, how about the fact that he was named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest players (for their 50th anniversary in 1997)...in only his fourth season?????