We complained that Reggie Miller was not on the list — have a discussion if he should be in the Naismith Hall of Fame if you want, he was a bit one-dimensional, but not to be on the final ballot is a travesty — still that should not taking away from the people that make the list.
It’s a good group of 12 that did make the cut.
Dennis Rodman — arguably the greatest rebounder the game has ever seen and a defensive force with a handful of championship rings — heads the list. He’s a guy that should be in any legitimate hoops hall of fame for what he did on the court, but his off-the-court antics and reputation will make it interesting to see if he gets the votes.
Also making the final 12 are Chris Mullin; UCLA legend and four-time NBA champion Jamaal “Silk” Wilkes (he could get in for that 20-foot “layup” he knocked down from the baseline with his elbow flared out for years); Tex Winter (the inventor of the triangle office and a coaching legend); Ralph Sampson; Teresa Edwards (a five-time Olympian); Tara VanDerveer (Stanford’s women’s coach); Dick Motta; Herb Magee (Philadelphia University coach); Hank Nichols (college referee); and Al Attles, assistant general manager of the Golden State Warriors.
One shouldn’t have any problem with that group.
Do I have an issue that Ralph Sampson is a finalist but Reggie Miller did not? Now we’re getting somewhere? And we don’t know who the people on the committee are. Very transparent.
The issue is with the setup of the Hall of Fame itself — how do you compare what VanDerveer does to what Mullin or Wilkes did? Sure, it is all basketball, but not to have separate Hall of Fames — or at least separate wings with separate voting processes — it all seems a muddled mess. Or, you could just start an NBA only Hall of Fame… hello, David Stern?
