The (weak) case against Dennis Rodman.
The Hall of Fame is not for supporting players.
Here are Rodman's scoring averages for his three seasons with the Bulls: 5.5, 5.7 and 4.7 points. And if you're going to tell me that scoring isn't everything, I agree with you, but would also note that the Hall of Fame isn't for players averaging four or five points a game. Even though the majority of Rodman's shot attempts came on put-backs close to the basket, his shooting accuracy never reached 50 percent in Chicago, and it was 43.1 in his final season there. He couldn't create his own shot and let's not even talk about him as a perimeter shooter. Oh, what the heck, let's talk about it -- he averaged 23 percent on three-pointers for his career.
Rodman was a great defensive player and bebounder, but both must be viewed through the prism of his having limited offensive responsibility.
about 1 year ago
-PS-
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Dear Jack McCallum
Shut your whore mouth when men are talking.
Jai Alai's got the bomb hops, drinkin Belgian styles from Cooperstown to Comstock.
by Mike Payne on Apr 4, 2011 8:15 PM EDT reply actions 11 recs
"You need to shut the FUCK up
When grown folks is TALKIN’!"
How's that for a slice of fried gold?
by Thom not Tom Gores on Apr 5, 2011 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions
They already gave the man his props, go hit the bottle McCallum
That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice
Defense is half the game, guys. They'll never learn.
Gary Peterson of the Oakland Tribune makes a similar argument, saying if Rodman gets in first-ballot then Chris Mullin should have. H/T to TrueHoop
But it would be a hollow gesture if the Hall of Fame, ostensibly serious about shoring up its credibility, admitted Rodman on his first try while leaving Mullin on the outside looking in for the fifth consecutive year. You just don’t do that to a player with a more complete game and more comprehensive body of work.
The Crayola-haired Rodman was a singular talent who had but one Hall of Fame-worthy attribute. He could rebound like mad, leading the league seven times. Not incidentally, he was on the NBA’s all-defensive first team seven times. Like Nelson, he was a five-time NBA champion, having had the good fortune to land on some wondrously talented teams and the skills to make those teams better.
But he played college ball at unheralded Southeastern Oklahoma State. He never appeared in the Olympics. He never served in an executive capacity. If you’re into the whole sportsmanship thing, Mullin wins in a rout.
This is just maddeningly frustrating.
Dennis Rodman was not a scorer in his time in the NBA. He was, however, the best rebounding forward who has ever played the game and one could make a very strong case that he is the best rebounder in history regardless of position. Rebounds equate to possessions and possessions are good for the offense. That may seem like a simple concept for most, but it has obviously eluded Jack McCallum. To say that Rodman had limited offensive responsibility is simply not true. It implies that the only way to have any tangible positive effect on the offense is to score. Dennis Rodman had a positive effect on the offense every time he stepped on the floor because he generated more possessions for said offense.
For McCallum to say that Rodman is undeserving of the Hall of Fame implies that offense is more important than defense, which is a point so goddamn stupid that it’s not worth responding to. Rodman was a phenomenal defender. His game was predated on defense and rebounding, two important things for teams that intend on winning basketball games. He did both of those things at a higher level than almost anybody who has ever played basketball. While team success is not always indicative of individual success, it is no coincidence that Rodman was a member of five championship teams. He had a role to fulfill and he did it really fucking well.
The Hall of Fame is full of scorers who couldn’t play a bit of defense, yet nobody has any objection to their inclusion. If Dennis Rodman can’t be in the Hall of Fame because he’s only known for defense, than they should take George Gervin’s plaque out into the street and set it on fire.
In conclusion, I would like to invite Jack McCallum to go fuck himself.
by Grant E. on Apr 5, 2011 2:15 AM EDT reply actions 9 recs
Here’s a list of all the HoF players and their stats:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/hof.html
KC Jones is the one that really sticks out for me. He was inducted as a player but didn’t really have very good stats. Luckily he played on a stacked Celtics team and won a lot of championships. His coaching career is probably more impressive than his playing career but I guess he wasn’t inducted for that. Looking at that list, I’d say Rodman fits in just fine.
But Rodman himself was surprised that the Pistons retired his jersey last Friday, since he played a supporting role during his seven seasons behind Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson. After joining the Bulls, he played a supporting role behind Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and sometimes even Ron Harper and Steve Kerr.
Did he ever watch Rodman play?
Tom Sanders
Why isn’t anyone writing big articles about Tom Sanders being inducted? Looks like he’s done way less statistically than Rodman has.
Didn't he create all that tasty Ice Cream topping and the chocolate bumpy cake?
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
It’s a load of crap. I don’t know Sanders’ game, he played when my parents were kids, but if someone is so vehemently opposed to Rodman and claims it’s based on his stats, why aren’t they whining about Sanders?
Now if they think he doesn’t deserve it because of the off-court shenanigans, that’s a different story and they should admit it. But the stats argument doesn’t make sense.
Well and even from an off-the-court perspective
Wasn’t Rodman really one of the first players to enter mainstream pop culture independent from basketball? Sure he did so through an extraordinarily odd sense of fashion, but ultimately he kind of opened the door to the concept that a star athlete could do plenty more than just play the game of basketball. I’d argue that without Rodman, there would be no Shaq Fu, there would be no Jesus Shuttlesworth, no Blue Chips, no Kazaam, and arguably no John Salley in Bad Boys.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
I’ll hit you with the waaahhh-psh-psh-psh, see?
by garrettelliott on Apr 6, 2011 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Bob Cousy never shot above 40%
But suggest that he might not be a HOF’er, let alone a top 50 player all time, and people like McCallum will bite your head off. Rodman is a hall of famer, and there is no argument to be had.
How's that for a slice of fried gold?
by Thom not Tom Gores on Apr 5, 2011 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions
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