2033 NBN Hall of Fame Nominee: Ante Zicic

[Rog]

The 134th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame faces an uphill battle. He is a defensive and rebounding big first, and scored second and only when needed. Given the league's propensity to say no to good defensive bigs, does Zizic have enough otherwise to earn the leagues vote? Lets take a look. 


Career Stats
1224 Games - 31.0 MPG, 13.0 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 2.4 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.9 TOPG on 41% from the field and 71.6% from the line

Best Season 
Knicks(2026) - 15.6 PPG, 14.7 RPG, 2.9 BPG, 1.0 SPG, 2.1 TOPG on 43.2% from the field and 68.8% from the line. 

Career Highs
Points: 36
Rebounds: 32
Assists: 8
Steals: 6
Blocks: 11

Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 64
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 717
Triple Doubles: 3

Career Leaderboard Rankings
Rebounds - 16th

Awards
2020 - All-Star Game Participant
2026 - All-Star Game Participant



Argument For Induction
- Ante Zizic played in two All-Star games in his career, proving even the game thought he was a top 5 player at his position in two seasons.
- Most of all, Zizic was a rebounder. He was 16th all time in rebounds and averaged 12.3 rebounds per game for his career. Not only did he do it for a long time, he had an actual peak that was impressive as hell. The number to hit for elite rebounders is 13.5 and he did it 6 times in his career. 
- He was also a fantastic defender, averaging 3.6 stocks per game for his career. Again, he put up 2.4 blocks and 1 steal per game for his career but in his prime you could count on 3.2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, both nearly elite numbers(1.3 steals IS elite for a big). 
- Even though he was a defensive big he actually contributed better than most of his archetype offensively. He averaged 13 points per game over his career, a respectable number considering Myles turner averaged just 10.1 for his career(with less of a drop off at the end than Zizic), and looks like he is getting in.
- Seriously though, remove his last three seasons and his first season in NBN, and you have a 15 point, 14 rebound, 3.3 block, 1.2 steal guy. And to me, considering he did that over 12 seasons, that is a Hall of Famer. 

Arguments Against Induction
- Those awards are simply not enough. Only two All-Star game appearances to show for. Not only yearly awards but he only won 64 player of the games and no Player of the Weeks or Months, at all. You can't be a Hall of Famer with that. 
- He really was an okay scorer, but he didn't do it efficiently at all. As a defensive big he still managed to average over 2 turnovers a couple times. He also only shot 41% from the field. He even had seasons under 40% from the field. 
- Again, solid defender for sure and he showed up on some of the best defenders list, but he didn't win a single defensive award and wasn't quite an elite shot blocker, which goes hand to hand. If you are a defensive rebounding big, you better at least get those awards and be a prolific shot blocker. 
- Overall, its a really hard case to make. He really was a solid player, but one of those guys that isn't quite a Hall of Famer. Didn't win a title, not enough awards, not statistically dominant, and didn't rack up enough counting stats. Just not quite. 


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***

[Rog]

Ante Zizic Player Page

[pjclippers]

Solid rebounder but didn't block enough to overcome his offensive shortcomings - that coupled with lack of awards leads me to vote no

[buckeyeballa10]

This a no from me. In his prime Zizic was a great big man in the NBN, but not statistically. He was a minimum offense but high defense / rebounding type of guy -- which in my opinion is great from NBN bigs. Nice career but not HOF worthy.

[Deleted]

Voted no, solid defender but not good enough all round

[ucfinfan86]

No for me. Good player, but not a HOFer

[lynchcats]

No vote here. I've voted no for better big men than this.

[vanimmer]

voted no for obvious reason imo

[frosty]

Really good player but no

[A. Silver]

Pity yes vote. He was pretty close to Turner who is getting a bunch of yes votes so I thought he deserved one.

[yourkers15]

One of my favorite players that I built. Think if I didnt miss time I would of did more with him and things would of been different

[thefirstcedi]

Had a better career than Turner but was hurt by the team he played on. Still a no.

[carmelo115]

No, but I loved his game. Exactly the type of Center I want

[bigthunder]

No for me just like Turner. I think Zizic was actually better offensively and just as good on defense. But still not good enough for the HOF.

[The Dark Ages]

No.