Post by Rog on Feb 7, 2018 23:54:54 GMT
The 111th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, Shabazz Muhammad was a great rebounding, good scoring, role playing shooting guard for many amazing teams. Was he more than the role player he was known for and a true star and Hall of Famer? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
37.7 MPG, 23.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 1.5 TOPG on 47.2% from the field, 91.3% from the line, and 45.1% from three
Best Season
Philadelphia 76ers(2022) - 28.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 1.8 TOPG on 50.9% from the field, 86.2% from the line, and 51.2% from three
Career Highs
Points: 58
Rebounds: 18
Assists: 13
Steals: 6
Blocks: 3
Achievements
Championships: 1
Player of the Game: 116
Player of the Week: 1
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 190
Triple Doubles: 3
Awards
2015 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2019 - All-League Second Team
2020 - All-Star Game Participant
2021 - 3-Point Shootout Champion
2022 - 3-Point Shootout Champion
2022 - All-Star Game Participant
2022 - All-League Third Team
2023 - All-League Second Team
2024 - All-League Second Team
2025 - All-Star Game Participant
Arguments For Induction
- Shabazz was a great shooter, as we'll go into greater detail later on, and proved as such in All-Star Weekend where he won two three point contests. He also played in three All-Star Games and was named to four All-League Teams, three seconds and a third.
- Its tough to start with something for Shabazz, he was such a complete player but he wasn't elite at anything. For a wing though, you need to first set a foundation of scoring. Unless you are Shane Battier good at defense, you have to be able to score in volume to be considered a good starter, let alone make it to the Hall of Fame. For Shabazz, he was a really good scorer, just not quite great. For his career he averaged 23.6 points per game, dragged down some by his first non D-League season and his last season. He had six seasons over 25 points per game, and a couple over 27 as well. Good scorer, both in volume and...
- He was out of this world efficiency, almost didn't take ENOUGH shots honestly, he did have a bit of Mike Miller disease. He shot 47.2% from the field and frankly had quite a few seasons higher than that, his high volume years where he did score in the 27+ he shot 50%. He only missed 382 free throws in his entire career, good for 91.3% from the line. That is insane. And his 45.1% from three with his volume is just crazy out of this world good. I guess if Shabazz had an elite skill, its this.
- Shabazz was one of the better shooting guard rebounders while he was in the league, averaging 6.9 for his career but consistently being right at or just above 7 a game. 6 is about the mark you need a shooting guard to hit, 7 is really good.
- Shabazz was seriously an all-around great player. He holds a 2.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, which is fantastic for a wing player, a guy who averaged 4 a game in a few seasons, averaged 3.8 for his career, and never averaged more than 1.9 turnovers per game. His defense was solid too, he carried an "A-" defensive rating and was about a 1.5 steals a game guy. He did everything you needed him to do well, and really wasn't bad at anything.
- Potentially the best "role" player in league history, so much so its impossible to actually call him a role player, Shabazz has a decent cache of awards, some good stats, an elite skill in shooting, and was just a winner. He only missed the playoffs twice as a starter, his last two years in the league before the bench time he got with the Bullets. Just a fantastic player and deserving of a place in the Hall of Fame.
Arguments Against Induction
- I mean, once again while he does have some awards to his name, does he realistically have enough to be a Hall of Fame? Only three All-Stars? Four All-Leagues? It just doesn't add up to enough, does it?
- And again, other than his shooting, which frankly the fact that he was so good at nailing these shots and didn't take more could be considered somewhat of a negative, he doesn't have an elite skill. He was a good scorer, good rebounder, good passer, above average defender. He did nothing bad, but really did nothing amazing either. Its tough to induct a guy like that too.
- He did have some true Hall of Fame seasons, but can probably be counted on one hand. He played 15 total years, spent one in D-League, spent one on the bench at the end, so he started a total of 13 seasons and probably had 4 truly elite years. Is that long enough of a peak to be Hall of Fame worthy?
- Shabazz was a fantastic player, a guy everyone should have wanted on their team to play either wing, and he was a fantastic role player. But we don't induct role players. We don't induct guys with this few of awards. We don't induct players who have four or five truly elite seasons. Its tough because of the fact Shabazz was not bad at anything, but its the truth. Shabazz will dictate a lot of future cases based on how this is voted, do we want to open that floodgate a bit? Did you truly fear facing Shabazz in the playoffs? You decide how to hand Shabazz.
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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