Jason Kidd was always going to headline the 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame class. A policy change put Steve Nash on this year’s ballot.
Those two point guards – and Grant Hill and Maurice Cheeks – will get inducted.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Grant Hill, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash have been notified that each will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2018, sources tell ESPN. Formal announcement comes at Final Four weekend.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 29, 2018
Maurice Cheeks will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2018, league source tells ESPN. He will join Nash, Hill and Kidd as part of starry group.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 29, 2018
No mention of Ray Allen, another eligible player who seemed like a shoe-in. But just because it hasn’t leaked yet doesn’t mean he wasn’t selected.
Kidd was an excellent defensive point guard who turned all those stops into potent fastbreaks. He made early marks with the Mavericks and Suns then led the Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals. He developed a potent 3-point shot, returned to Dallas and won a title. In a 19-year career, he hit every mark desired by a Hall of Famer for peak value and longevity.
Nash also played for the Suns and Mavericks, winning back-to-back MVPs in Phoenix. He made the seven-seconds-or-less Suns happen with his phenomenal speed and court vision. He was also a lights-out shooter, though he focused more on involving teammates.
Hill quickly became a premier NBA player with the Pistons, a triple-double machine for his day. But he never advanced past the first round while leading Detroit, then injuries derailed his Magic tenure. His career is a great “what if?” Still, he got healthy with the Suns and stuck around long enough to produce Hall of Fame longevity numbers. His career arc was atypical with all those lost years in Orlando, but his peak was high, and he played 18 years, most of them at a high level. His time at Duke in lower-level basketball also gets outsized consideration in the flawed Basketball Hall of Fame.
Cheeks is a more questionable choice. He was a very good point guard – particularly defensively – for the 1980s 76ers, including their 1983 title team. But he was never elite – just four All-Star appearances and no All-NBA selections. He’s justifiably a borderline call, and considering how well-liked he is, nobody will object to his inclusion.