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Hall of Fame : Class of 2003

by Harlan Schreiber (3/11/03)

This week, the Basketball of Hall of Fame will decide who to enshrine as its newest members. The Basketball Hall of Fame is much less ballyhooed than its baseball counterpart, however, it interesting to see who is eligible and who gets in. Before we get to who is up for the Basketball Hall of Fame let's look at how the voting process works.

How does one become a basketball Hall of Famer?

Whether one is eligible to be voted to the Hall of Fame depends on which category one is nominated for (the categories are player, coach, referee, and contributor). Depending on the category, a candidate must meet certain qualifications. We will focus on the player category only because it is the most interesting to us (do you really care which foreign player from the 1970s gets in this year?). A player must be retired for five full years. After that point, he may be nominated to the Hall of Fame. A nomination brings the player to a screening committee which goes through a debating process to determine whether the player should make it to a vote for the Hall of Fame. If five of the seven screening committee members agree, the player goes before the Honors Committee. The Honors Committee then votes on whoever got past the screening committee. If 18 of the 24 Honors members vote for the player, the player becomes a Hall of Famer.

Aside from the voting process, there is no articulated bright line test for Hall of Fame worthiness. Presumably, dominance and statistical accomplishments are important. In addition, one would think that, like in baseball, if a nominee is substantially similar to one who is already a Hall of Famer, the nominee should get in too. There are usually about nine or ten nominees under the NBA player category. There have been years of only one and other years with as many as four nominees making it but usually only about two become Hall of Famers. There is no guarantee that at least one player must make the Hall every year.

If there is no bright-line test for the Hall of Fame can we derive one from the results?

Kind of. Here are some broad brushes with which we can paint Hall of Famer members:

1) Dominant figures: These are the guys who were the best of their era and did it for a while. They are no-brainers under any standard one might apply to them. Examples: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell.

2) All Stars: These are the really good guys who were not quite on the best. Guys who were among the best. Usually they have longevity on their side, especially if they were not winners. Examples: Elvin Hayes, Tiny Archibald, Alex English.

3) Winners: There is a clear sympathy for pretty good players who played supporting roles on winning teams. These guys may not always have really impressive numbers but the fact that they won is afforded great deference. Examples: K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, Bill Bradley.

4) Special Cases: Some NBA players who are considered innovators, forerunners, or great collegians career can get in with abbreviated or merely solid pro careers. Examples: Drazen Petrovic, Bill Walton, Joe Fulks.

None of these categories are per se wrong by my estimation of what a Hall of Famer should be. Some can nominees overlap between all the categories. However, I generally would prefer to enshrine players who fit into categories one and two before the others. I look at dominance first and foremost as the best criterion for the Hall of Fame. Another question I like to ask is how much value a certain player imparted on a team from his rookie year going forward. I am not sure what threshold of value should be but I like to see significant impact.

All right so let's get on with it, who are this year's nominees?

The Hall of Fame has nominated nine NBA players this year. Here they are with a quick recap of their qualifications:

Maurice Cheeks 1978-1993 1 Championship

Adrian Dantley 1976-1991 All-NBA Second Team 2 times

Walter Davis 1977-1991 All-NBA Second Team 2 times

Dennis Johnson 1976-1989 All-NBA First Team 1 time, All-NBA Second Team 1 time, 1 Playoff MVP, 3 Championships

Gus Johnson 1963-1972 All-NBA Second Team 4 times

Bobby Jones 1974-1986 1 Sixth Man Award, 1 Championship

Robert Parish 1976-1997 All-NBA Second Team 1 time, All-NBA Third Team 1 time, 3 Championships

Chet Walker 1962-1974 1 Championship

James Worthy 1982-1994 All-NBA Third Team 2 times, 1 Playoff MVP, 3 Championships

None of the above players is really a dominant player a la category 1. There are no MVPs won in this whole group. There are some players who were dominant and MVP-level for short periods. Let's run through each player.

Maurice Cheeks: The quintessential team player. Cheeks was never the best player on his team. He was a good third or fourth wheel on the old 76ers when Dr. J and Moses Malone starred. Cheeks was the perfect point guard for a star laden team, he could pass and defend but he did not need to shoot. In fact, he never scored more than 15.6 ppg in a season. (Incidentally, Cheeks in his prime would be a perfect player for the Portland team he currently coaches). Cheeks' best statistical accomplishment was when he had the all-time lead in career steal. He has since been passed by John Stockton and Michael Jordan with Scottie Pippen closing in quickly. This is not really a good argument on Cheeks' behalf anyway as steals are not a vital stat to determining effectiveness. Cheeks was good but not near a Hall of Famer.

Adrian Dantley: He had a great run on Utah in the early 1980s (averaging over 30 ppg three years in a row, excluding 1982-83 when he play only 22 games) and he was a top player on the Pistons right before they won a championship. Dantley also scored at an absurdly high clip (.540% for his career). He was, however, dogged by complaints of being a poor defender and a malcontent. Neither Utah nor Detroit were worse after he left town. Utah ranged from a lottery team to around .500 during Dantley's heyday. Detroit went on to to win two championships when they traded Dantley for Mark Aguirre. This is not to say Dantley was not valuable but he was far from irreplacable. This inability to improve his teams plus his bad rep make me think he is not a Hall of Famer.

Walter Davis: A great shooter. Sort of reminds of Rolando Blackman or Allan Houston, a pure shooter but not really a great defender or passer. Davis highest scoring year was actually his rookie year (24.2 ppg). I don't want to underestimate his value but I am somewhat prejudiced against one-dimensional shooting guards. While Davis is comparable to some other two guards in the Hall of Fame (Sam Jones and Hal Greer) he was not the best two guard of his time. I would put Sidney Moncrief and a few other ahead of him anyway. The other problem that hurts Walter Davis is that there are so many active or recently retired players who are better (Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Mitch Richmond, Jeff Hornacek to name a few). I cannot endorse Davis.

Dennis Johnson: DJ is an interesting case. He was the best player on a championship team, playoff MVP, and a solid starter on a great Celtics team. Johnson does not really have enough as only a Sonic or Celtic to get in to the Hall. The question is whether the amalgamation of the two careers is enough to get him in. I tend to think not. The Sonic team he won with was not really a great team and his time on the Celtics was good but he was at least the fourth best player on the team and not as vital a cog as you remember from listening to Tom Heinsohn on CBS 15 years ago. Surprisingly, DJ's best year was actually on Phoenix (19.5 ppg, 4.6 apg, 5.5 rpg). In his prime, DJ was one of the first do-everything guards. DJ is very close but not quite over the threshold.

Gus Johnson: People remember Johnson as a short strong guy who was a great boarder, kind of an ancestor of the Charles Barkley-monster that arose later. Johnson averaged double figure rebounds eight years in a row including an incredible 18.2 ppg 17.1 rpg season in 1970-71. This was a Hall of Fame-level play. Unfortunately, Johnson had a short career (ten years) and was often injured (he missed over a season and a half worth of games). Another factor that weakens Johnson is that he had a steep drop off from his peak. After the incredilbe 1970-71 season, Johnson hurt himself and scored only 6.5 ppg over two more injury-plagued seasons. Johnson also had bad luck after the NBA, dying prematurely of a heart attack near the age of 40. He is a sympathetic case and he probably had the best peak value of any of this years nominees but I would not vote for Johnson.

Bobby Jones: The winner cache taken way too far. Jones was a great role player on the Dr. J 76ers, he even won the first ever Sixth Man Award in 1982-83. However, for a guy who was a good rebounder he never averaged double figures. He never scored more than 15 ppg in the ABA and more than 14.4 ppg in the NBA. His career was only 12 years long, four of which were serious decline years. Jones illustrates the problem with taking the being on a winning team thing too seriously. He was a key contributor and any coach would love to have him but he was nothing more than a great bench player or pretty good starter.

Robert Parish: The Big Chief. Parish is yet another supporting player on a good team that centered around Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. Parish was never considered the best center in the NBA or the Eastern Conference. However, Parish was good for so long (15 straight above average years) that he amassed incredible value for the Celtics. Some people never like consistency-based Hall of Famers but there comes a point when you have to give a credit for a decade and a half of good play. The Chief should be in the Hall.

Chet Walker: I have read a lot about Chet Walker over the years. He is clearly an engaging and thoughtful guy who was more than just an athlete. As a player, though, he might not be a Hall of Famer. He was good on the great Wilt-76ers teams and a star on some decent Chicago Bulls teams. He was remarkably consistent, averaging 18.2 ppg and 7.1 rpg for his career. He was a bad passer averaging only 2.1 apg for his career. Walker had a short career for a good but not great player (only 13 years). He probably needed more time to create a more convincing case. Walker clearly had a lot left in his tank when he retired too, his last year he put up 19.2 ppg. So why did he retire? Walker told NBA.com:

Well ... there's a lot of signs that tell you when to retire. Physically I started to wear down. Mentally it was difficult to constantly get up for every game. You know, after 13 years, you've seen everything, you've heard every pregame speech, every halftime motivational speech. And when it gets to be a little repetitive, then I think it's time to quit.

You have to respect a guy who needs more in his life than just sports. However, Walker, I think, is short of the Hall.

James Worthy: If I can guarantee one thing about this years Hall of Fame vote it is that Worthy will get in. He was an All Star and he has championship rings. Worthy had a nice run as a player and his performance during the playoffs and his MVP in the 1988 NBA Finals MVP. However, when you dig a little deeper you see that Worthy had a short career (12 years) and and a good but not great peak. He did not rebound that well and he was not really a great passer or defender either. In fact, Dantley and Walker, very similar players, have cases that are nearly as good as Worthy's. However, the historical favoritism towards secondary players on championships will put Worthy in. I can't say Worthy does not deserve enshrinement but I would not vote for him.

For a quick recap here is how I would rate the nine candidates:

1. Robert Parish

2. Dennis Johnson

3. James Worthy

4. Adrian Dantley

5. Gus Johnson

6. Walter Davis

7. Chet Walker

8. Maurice Cheeks

9. Bobby Jones

I would only vote for Parish but expect to see Worthy in their too.

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