Basketball Hall of Fame Finalists for 2013

Not fair to ding Richmond on the first-team thing since his career overlapped with Jordan's.

 

True, but it's not like he snuck into the first team the years Jordan was playing baseball either. Along with his six All-Star appearances, he had five All-NBA berths, second and third team. His last year as a good regular was when he was 32, then it was off to the Wizards and a pretty steep decline. Include him, and you probably have a Pandora's Box of guys like Glen Rice and Vince Carter.

 

In their prime, does anyone think Richmond and Hardaway were as good as King?

 

No.

 

Three different type of players. King was good and there's a lot of hype about him BECAUSE he played in New York. Had he played in Oakland, like Richmond and Hardaway, I doubt that he would be receiving as much attention.

 

Lenny Wilkins is in both as a player and a coach and deservedly so. Heinsohn is in the same circle, in my opinion.

 

Bernard King is the only eligible NBA scoring champ not in the Hall.

 

There seems to be some confusion here ... Bernard played two years for the Warriors. That's how he got the big offer sheet from the Knicks.

 

I'd be curious if there was a single player who averaged more than 20 points a game every season for a decade who isn't in the Hall.

Yes, Richmond was often the only good player on some dreadful Sacramento teams, but he was still a hell of a player...

King should definitely be in. I have no doubt Richmond will get in at some point. And as someone else mentioned, Payton and Staley should be no-brainers...

 

Mitch Richmond was no better than Antawn Jamison or Jerry Stackhouse or Latrell Sprewell. His numbers really don't hold up well aside from the scoring.

 

Stackhouse is an interesting comparison. His best season was better than Richmond's best season, but Richmond was more consistent. Richmond wasn't as good in Washington as he was in Sacramento, but he was still a pretty solid scorer... He also only really hung around one season too long, while Stackhouse has been passed around the NBA for the last five years.

Although, if a scoring title is enough to get you a Hall pass, Stackhouse will make it there...

 

Not that similar... He said, "take away the scoring..." Uh... Richmond was a scorer. That's what he was supposed to do, and he was among the best at it for a decade.

Stackhouse was injured a lot and hasn't averaged even 15 points a game since 2002-03.