Warriors forward Andre Iguodala won an NBA Finals MVP, putting him in company with 19 Hall of Famers, eight sure-fire future Hall of Famers, Kawhi Leonard (who’s on a Hall of Fame track if he remains healthy), Chauncey Billups (a potential Hall of Famer) and Cedric Maxwell.
So, that brings Iguodala into conversations he wouldn’t otherwise appear in.
Ray Ratto of NBC Sports Bay Area:But when asked Monday at Warriors Media Day if he thought of himself as a potential Basketball Hall of Famer, he smiled for a moment, then got serious and gave the answer so few athletes would.
“I don’t.”
I agree with Iguodala. I’ve long given up on predicting who makes the Basketball Hall of Fame, an institution that treats lesser levels as equal to the NBA and has secretive voting procedures. But when I envision a Hall of Fame that properly honors NBA greats, Iguodala doesn’t make the cut.
He has had a very nice career, becoming one of the league’s smartest players. He makes the most of that basketball intelligence with versatility and strong team play. It’s not a coincidence he has helped Golden State win three titles.
But he has also made only one All-Star team and never made an All-NBA team. He was never elite at any single point, and several years of good performance don’t compensate for that.
LeBron James should have won 2015 NBA Finals MVP. If voters felt obligated to choose a winning Warrior, Stephen Curry should have won.
Good for Iguodala, who had a stellar series, to snag the award. But we shouldn’t compound the error by making the honor the centerpiece of his Hall of Fame candidacy. And after that Finals MVP, his Hall of Fame résumé looks pretty thin.
