Is there a place in the Hall for this man?

Rodman was a heck of a passer as well -- really understood where players should be on the floor. Though it seemed as if he took pride in not shooting.

He started his career guarding MJ as well as anyone and ended it guarding the likes of Shaq and Duncan -- pretty amazing when you think about it.

 

Good question, Drip. But no.

 

Hall of Fame? No.

Hall of Crazy? First Ballot.

 

Just did a quick scan of the Hall of Fame list, passed Adrian Dantley's name and stopped at Patrick Ewing. Took a look at his career highlights. Maybe someone can explain to me what he did that was so outstanding to warrant induction when you're arguing against Rodman.
Personally, I hated every single one of the Pistons during the Bad Boys era, but if Adrian Dantley for example (sorry if the spelling's incorrect) is in the hall, Rodman should be too.
If you keep him out because of what he's like off the court, then Kobe shouldn't go in because his sexually activities in Colorado.

 

If Rodman's career numbers seem low, it's because he was 25 when he was drafted.

 

Over a seven-year span, Dantley averaged 28.0, 30.7, 30.3, 30.7, 30.6, 26.6, and 29.8, as, basically, a 6-5 power forward. And once he went to Detroit, he was the leading scorer on a team that made it to Game 7 of the ECF in 1987, and if he doesn't get knocked out that game, they probably win. And the next year he was the leading scorer on a team that made it to Game 7 of the Finals, and if Isiah doesn't get hurt in Game 6, they probably beat the Lakers. Rookie of the year, two-time scoring champ, top 25 in career points - he was 9th in career points when he retired. Averaged 24 points for his career. As much as a freak as Rodman when it comes to a guy who could dominate like that offensively with his body in the post.

Great defender? No. But again, ultimately the game is about scoring points and if you can do that at a prolific rate, you have a leg up on someone whose range is about half a foot.

There are people in the basketball hall of fame who probably shouldn't be, mostly because the hoops hall is such a hodgepodge and not just limited to the NBA. But Dantley definitely belongs.

 

I think he has a shot. I don't think he'll get in though. Being the best rebounder of his generation has to count for something. I would argue that a rebound, especially an offensive one, is much more valuable than an assist.

That said, he was never the best player on any of the teams he was on and probably never even the second best.

 

No.

Early in his career, he was a great and valuable player.

In his "second act" he was an awful player, a shameless stat-padder who utterly and willfully ignored every other facet of the game (yes, including defense) except the one that showed up on the stat sheet (rebounding).

Because a lot of media and a huge number of fans were suckered in by the delusion that rebounding, in and of itself, is inherently a more valuable, noble and admirable statistic than scoring, he was able to build this bizarro-world cult. They fall all over themselves making fun of me-first gunners like Dominique Wilkins, etc, ignoring the fact Rodman was an even worse player in every other facet of the game while concentrating on one statistical category as much or more as Wilkins ever did.

The misconception that he "shut down" players like Shaq/Duncan, etc etc., was entirely anecdotal and episodic, built from individual video-clip highlights when he happened to snuff them on specific plays. (Big fucking deal, LaRue Martin blocked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's hook shot once in 1973.) The vast majority of the time, he got demolished by those 4/5's. He had also lost all his quickness by that time, so he could no longer guard 2/3's, either.

The Bulls of the late 90s won because of one player, and one player only. Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Everybody else (that means you, Rodman, and that means you too, Pippen) rode along on padded saddles strapped to Jordan's back.

As was proven instantly when he left the Bulls for his final flameout stints with the Lakers and Dallas, his freak-show act was worthless without the greatest player in the world behind him to make up for his deficiencies.

 

It's settled then. Rodman will go into the Hall of Fame for his chest passing skills.

 

You hated Joe Dumars?

Outing Alert: Canucklehead is Darko Milicic.

Seriously though, unless you are Darko, or any current Pistons fan, how could you hate Joe Dumars. He always carried himself with a lot of class. I'll agree, the other guys were assholes including Thomas and Laimbeer... but not Dumars. Also, what do you have against Fennis Dembo? Is it his relation to SportsJournalists.com soccer poster Ron Dembo?

 

Did you ever watch him play? He was an excellent passer from the high post -- probably among the best passing power forwards that I have seen.