2 days Ago By Sean Keane, Yardbarker
Carmelo Anthony was voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year in his first year of eligibility. Now that Anthony is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, here are five NBA greats who should be next in line for induction. 1.
LaMarcus Aldridge Aldridge was a seven-time NBA All-Star and made the All-NBA team five times. He scored 20,558 points in his career, and every eligible player who totaled more points than him is in the Hall. For context, he's only 232 points shy of another great San Antonio Spurs big man, David Robinson.
It doesn't look like Aldridge will be a first-ballot inductee, but he should eventually get in. Especially since those career numbers would look even better had health issues not ended his career prematurely. 2.
Andre Iguodala Michael Cooper of the Los Angeles Lakers made the Hall of Fame as a defensive stopper who won five NBA titles. Iguodala won four titles with the Golden State Warriors in a similar role (with one as a deep reserve), but he had an All-Star career before that. Iguodala was a do-everything small forward for the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets before signing with Golden State, finishing his career with nearly 14,000 points and over 5,000 assists.
But those titles with the Warriors and his 2015 Finals MVP Award should cement Iguodala's place in Springfield. 3. Shawn Marion Marion was another all-round excellent player who was a key player on some very good Phoenix Suns teams, while never being the biggest start.
He made four All-Star teams and was the second-best player behind Steve Nash on the Suns teams that made the conference finals in 2005 and 2006, and a key member of the 2011 champion Dallas Mavericks. Marion scored 17,700 points, totaled over 10,000 rebounds and finished in the top eight of Defensive Player of the Year voting four times. He'd have far more All-Star Games if he hadn't been competing with forwards like Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Chris Webber, Dirk Nowitzki and LaMarcus Aldridge in his prime, and he's a worthy Hal of Famer.
4. Blake Griffin The shortness of Griffin's injury-plagued career might hurt him with voters, though it's hard to deny he had an excellent prime. Griffin made six All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams while winning a Slam Dunk Contest, a Rookie of the Year trophy and even embarking on a standup comedy career.
The lack of postseason success for his "Lob City" Los Angeles Clippers teams also hurts Griffin, but they still won a lot of playoff games, if not series. Why do we think he'll eventually get in? Griffin has a new gig as part of Amazon Prime's studio show, which will keep him very visible and part of the NBA conversation. As time passes, people will remember his highlights and spectacular dunks more than they will his injuries.
5. Joe Johnson Believe it or not, Johnson made seven All-Star teams during his NBA career, scoring over 20,000 points (49th all-time). Both of those numbers have often been automatic Hall of Fame qualifiers, with apologies to eight-time All-Star and non-Hall of Famer Larry Foust of the Fort Wayne Pistons.
Normally participation in Ice Cube's BIG3 three-on-three league shouldn't affect Hall of Fame chances, but Johnson won league MVP in all three of his seasons. If the Hall votes "Iso Joe" in and they have Ice Cube induct him, that will be a good day indeed. Even if he doesn't mess around and get a triple-double.
Sean Keane is a sportswriter and a comedian based in Oakland, California, with experience covering the NBA, MLB, NFL and Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, The Big 3. He’s written for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” ESPN the Magazine, and Audible. com.
