00:00Let's just be honest. I know there's some argument about it behind the scenes, but I think we'll have fun
00:04talking about it.
00:05The Basketball Hall of Fame class was announced, and for my money, as a basketball aficionado, thank you Joe Dumars,
00:13and a fan of the sport,
00:15this is collectively the worst Hall of Fame class since they opened the building in Springfield, Massachusetts.
00:22It is a joke. Amari Stoudemire, Doc Rivers, Candice Parker, a gal I never heard of, no disrespect to Elena
00:32Della Don or Dion or something.
00:34I don't know. I thought she was a volleyball player, to be honest, because she was a volleyball player.
00:39I checked out her Wikipedia page about 30 seconds ago. She did win an WNBA title as well, but I
00:46never heard of her,
00:47which means she probably shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. Candice Parker I have heard of.
00:52So I have no problem putting Candice Parker if women are going to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
00:56No problem with that, but let's get to the two guys that we do care about the most, okay?
01:00Let's start with Doc Rivers. For my money, Doc Rivers is a joke.
01:07Doc Rivers is a clown of a head coach. Doc Rivers, in the last 15 years of his coaching career,
01:14has made it to a single conference final. One. Now he's got the 2008 title in Boston,
01:20when he also had three Hall of Famers in his starting five, but that shouldn't be held against
01:26him. Obviously, they lost to the Lakers in his second NBA Finals appearance, and that series
01:32did go seven games, by the way, but that's it. So one championship as a coach, two appearances
01:38in the NBA Finals as a coach. For the last 15 years, a single conference final appearance.
01:44You're in Philly, Tyrone. He had, I think, three full seasons in Philadelphia, and never
01:50got past the second round of the playoffs, despite having teams that we all thought were
01:55good enough. With Joel Embiid in his prime to make a run, never got past the second round.
02:01Obviously, he had some good years with the Clippers out in LA. We know what he did in Boston.
02:06He is sixth all-time and wins, so I know that's the big, I checked the box for why he
02:12got into
02:12the Hall of Fame. And I want to be clear before we go further. Once a guy gets into the
02:17Hall
02:17of Fame, good for him. Congratulations. Like, I don't lose sleep over it, and I'm not mad
02:23about it. But if you want to consider the Hall of Fame in every sport a place solely for
02:31the greats, and I know no sport does that anymore, including basketball. But in my opinion, maybe
02:37it's romantic, the Hall of Fame, whether it's hockey, baseball, basketball, football, should
02:43be reserved for people where there's no question that guy or that gal is a Hall of Famer. And
02:51that's just how I view the Hall of Fame. I know that's archaic. I know it's old. I know
02:55every Hall of Fame no longer treats it like that. But because I treat it like that, Doc
03:01Rivers, to me, is not a Hall of Famer. We'll do Amari next, but look, you're a Sixers fan.
03:07You saw him up close and personal for three full seasons. Do you think he's a Hall of Famer?
03:14I do for this reason, though. The way the Basketball Hall of Fame does is actually different
03:19than the other sports is. They take everything you did. So just because he's going in as a coach,
03:24they actually take the fact that he was an all-star as a player, and they take your college
03:29career all into it.
03:30Yes, that's the NBA Hall of Fame. It's the Basketball Hall of Fame. That part's right.
03:34Basketball Hall of Fame. And because he was an all-star as a player, because he has the
03:38six most wins, and because he won a title and got to another finals, I believe anybody
03:44with that resume not named Doc Rivers would get in. I hate Doc Rivers as a coach. I want
03:50to make that clear. I thought he did a very poor job with the Sixers, although Ben
03:54Simmons choking played a big role. So I do not like Doc Rivers. But I have to say that
04:00if you include everything, including being a long-time player and winning that much and
04:05over 100 playoff wins, I believe he's a Hall of Famer. And I say that as a person who despises
04:11him as a coach.
04:13Yeah, it's interesting you say that because I think he's a bit of a compiler to get up
04:18near six. And look, he is six. He's top six in the history of basketball as far as total
04:23wins. Obviously, it's been a disaster in Milwaukee when he took over back in 2024.
04:28And Philly, like I said, never got past the second round. In eight years in the Clippers,
04:32never got past the conference semifinals. And his only legitimate postseason success were
04:37obviously the two years in Boston when he went in 2008 and won the championship with
04:43Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. And then in 2010, again, to the Lakers, where
04:47they lost in seven games. From a player's standpoint, I think he was an all-star once.
04:52If you told me that you want to put him in as a contributor, which there are guys that
04:58do get in because of their contributions to the sport or the length of time they were involved
05:03in the sport, I think there's a much better argument. Because I don't think at any point
05:07you, me, or anyone else ever thought of Doc Rivers, whether it was the Celtics, the Clippers,
05:13the Sixers, or now the Bucs, as even one of the five best coaches in the league in any
05:18particular year. And I include the year the Celtics did go to the NBA Finals. So again,
05:24if we want to water down the Hall of Fame, then yes, I'm with you. Like Doc Rivers, six
05:30all-time wins. How does he not get into the Hall of Fame? But if you want to reserve the
05:35Hall of Fame for the greats, then in my opinion, Doc Rivers should not be in the Hall of Fame.
05:41And I think this class has got to be this weakest class in Hall of Fame history, because
05:46I'll go to Amari Stoudemire now. Look, Amari Stoudemire, despite having about a 16-year
05:52career, fact-checked me on that, and obviously had some great years in Phoenix, went to a
05:57bunch of Western Conference Finals as their best player, arguably their best player. For
06:03certainly a couple years he was their best player. And then, of course, he goes to the
06:06Knicks and does not have the success that we as Knicks fans thought he would have, especially
06:11when coupled with Carmelo Anthony. You know, they won a single playoff series in their
06:17tenure here. But Amari Stoudemire, again, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I'm not
06:23mad about it. He's only a five-time All-Star. Like, let that sink in. This isn't a guy with
06:2915 All-Star appearances, even though it's a popularity contest. He's six what? Six All-Star.
06:36Six, excuse me. Six total All-Star appearances in a damn near 20-year career. Now, injuries
06:42late, the back, obviously his legs and whatnot, gave out on him after he got to the Knicks
06:47a couple years after joining the Knicks. But again, at no point was Amari Stoudemire thought
06:52of as the best player in the league. He never was. And he was never thought of, I don't
06:57think, as one of the top three or four or five players. Damn good player, yes. Dominant
07:03for a year or two, sure, why not? But man, the Hall of Fame's got to be special. And
07:08now, I'm sorry, it's no longer special.
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