Post by Rog on Feb 6, 2018 21:18:20 GMT
The 105th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, and first from the huge 2028 class is Jabari Parker. Parker was a scoring and rebounding dynamo, in the vein of the great Carlos Boozer. Will he follow his predecessor and make the Hall of Fame or will he just appear not good enough and fall short? Lets take a look at the stats.
Career Stats
33.8 MPG, 20.3 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.3 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 2.0 TOPG on 43.7% from the field, 84.3% from the line, and 38% from three
Best Season
San Antonio Spurs(2023) - 25.9 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.6 BPG, 1.5 SPG, 2.3 TOPG on 44% from the field, 85.3% from the line, and 40.4% from three
Career Highs
Points: 54
Rebounds: 29
Assists: 10
Steals: 6
Blocks: 6
Achievements
Championships: 1
Player of the Game: 180
Player of the Week: 5
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 744
Triple Doubles: 1
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Points - 71st
Rebounds - 23rd
Awards
2014 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2014 - Sixth Man of the Year
2014 - All-Rookie Second Team
2020 - All-League Second Team
2021 - All-Star Game Participant
2022 - All-Star Game Participant
2022 - All-League Third Team
2023 - All-Star Game Participant
2025 - All-Star Game Participant
2027 - Sixth Man of the Year
2028 - All-Star Game Participant
Arguments For Induction
- Like Jabari's career, his awards are bit everywhere. From two sixth man of the year awards at the beginning and end of his career, to five All-Star Game appearances and his two All-League team nominations(a 2nd and a third), plus a title in there for good measure, you have to respect the career Jabari had.
- Most of all, Jabari was a consistently great rebounder. Never quite elite, he averaged 12 rebounds or better in 11 season os his 15 year career. He also averaged 13+ rebounds, a good benchmark for the near elite but not quite elite crowd, in five seasons. He also finished top 25, 23rd exactly, in rebounds, proving his worth on the boards.
- Almost his 1B to the reboundings 1A of his case, he was a magnificant scorer from the 4 spot. Most PFs that come through these articles were defense, rebounding bigs but Jabari doesn't fit that mold at all. Instead he gave you 20+ points a game almost at will. In 8 straight seasons he averaged over that mark, and was a great off the bench scorer for two others, plus two more seasons at 18.5+. You could count on him for your scoring punch, whether starting or off the bench. Being a big and only playing 15 years, its impressive he ended up as high as 71st in scoring all time.
- Normally, when you get a high volume scoring big, you get a guy who can't shoot the ball worth a shit. Those guys sacrifice good possessions for high volume scoring from the block. Jabari wasn't like that. He shot 43.7% from the field for his career, a damn solid number for a scoring big. Plus he was absolutely automatic from mid range and from the line, where he shot 84.3% from. While not a prolific three point shooter, he could hit those shots here and there, taking over 900 in his career and knocking down 38% of them. He was a well rounded scorer.
- You add in the fact that he has a title and his ability to move the ball from the post, averaging 3+ assists in almost every season he played, you have a Hall of Fame player from top to bottom. Was he an amazing defensive player? Probably not, especially considering his stocks which very rarely reached above 3 a game, though he was fantastic at generating turnovers from the block. He did carry a A- or A rating defensively most of his career, while only averaging 1.3 blocks(and 1.1 steals), so he wasn't terrible fundamentally. Overall, his scoring, rebounding, passing, and overall solid game add up to one that is a hard case to say no to. He could do it all for you, and his ability to morph into a bench mob leader winning two 6th man of the year awards just proves that more than anything.
Arguments Against Induction
- He lacks top end awards. The All-Star nominations are nice, but only two All-League awards, zero defensive awards, and his biggest claim to fame is seemingly two Sixth Man of the Year Awards. There are awards here, but no nearly enough for a Hall of Fame guy, especially on his first pass.
- There is something absolutely to be said about a consistently great rebounder, but there is also something to be said about the fact that, as mentioned, he was never elite. He couldn't get to the 14+ mark that gets you into the top 5. A statistic that his biggest argument for induction is the fact that its just barely inside the top 25 is a bit hard to really take that seriously when we're talking about the elite of the elite.
- The last point to directly contradict a point for induction, his scoring was good sure, but again it wasn't elite and he had too many seasons where he just didn't appear to care about scoring effectively. Only 8, just over half, of his career was spent over 20 points a game. Thats rough. And he just barely sits top 75 All Time in scoring. And he still is pretty damn inefficient of a scorer to be taking 16 shots a game, almost 20 a game in his peak.
- As a point of its own, his turnovers were a bit high. His assist to turnover ratio is just over 1.5, and any big who consistently is over 2 turnovers a game is "turnover pone" compared to most. He wasn't the worst at it, but it is a point that was a flaw in his game overall.
- Overall, there is a ton to like about Jabari. Great rebounder, good scorer, could pass, won a title, was able to do things you needed him to do including come off the bench. All fantastic. But there is something to be said about a guy who was put on the bench, thought to be the best thing for "him and the team", in the middle of his career? Twice? Also, again he has nothing to show us that he was anything other than a poor defender. He is right on that line, the best of the best in terms of guys that deserve to be in the Hall of Very Good, but not quite Hall of Fame.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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