2041 Hall of Fame Nominee - Dave Cowens

[Donny - Bucks]

As one of the final initial "defense and rebounding" era players, Dave Cowens was as good or better than most of the defensive bigs we've seen in league history at, you guessed it, defense and rebounding. Will this be enough for him to get into the NBN Hall of Fame?

PLAYER PAGE - nothinbutnetleague.altervista.org/NothinButNet/Archive/2040/html/players/player347.htm



CAREER STATS
Games: 1141
MPG: 31.8
PPG: 10.6
RPG: 11.4
APG: 3.0
SPG: 1.1
BPG: 3.0
TOPG: 2.3
FG%: .427
FT%: .627
3P%: .169

Best Season (2035 Trailblazers - DPOTY)
Games: 82
MPG: 35.6
PPG: 13.0
RPG: 13.7
APG: 3.5
SPG: 1.5
BPG: 3.4
TOPG: 2.6
FG%: .410
FT%: .618
3P%: .129

Career Highs
Points: 34
Rebounds: 28
Assists: 12
Steals: 7
Blocks: 11

Achievements
Championships: 1
Player of the Game: 78
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 480
Triple Doubles: 9

Awards
2026 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2026 - Rookie of the Year
2026 - All-Rookie Team
2028 - All-Defensive Second Team
2029 - All-Defensive Team
2031 - All-Star Game Participant
2032 - All-Star Game Participant
2033 - All-Defensive Second Team
2035 - Defensive Player of the Year
2035 - All-Defensive Team



Arguments For Induction
- As one of the best defensive bigs the league has ever seen, Dave Cowens is the all-time leader for blocks in a season with 4.1 and still didn't manage to win DPOTY that year, while putting up 4.5+ stocks per game in 7 different seasons over his career. He also rebounded among the best of them when he was starting games and could absolutely produce some offense if you needed that out of him.

- Cowens was a huge help to many teams throughout his career, including the 2034 Trailblazers championship team next to Caleb Houstan, who is also up for the Hall this year. He's very capable offensively and was an above average offensive contributor for a large chunk of his prime as a 12-13 PPG player while being the best defender and rebounder on the court in many cases.

- After winning the Rookie of the Year award in 2026, he managed to amass Four All-Defensive Teams, 2 All-Star appearances, all before finally winning DPOTY in 2035 after a decade of elite defensive production. He's got the Championships and defensively, he's well represented amongst his awards and statistic production.

Arguments Against Induction
- This feels like the James Wiseman baseline that has been set may come into play, as we didn't induct in a guy who did 20.8/12.4/3.2 stocks on 45.4% from the field. While Cowens was a better defender than Wiseman for a large chunk of his career as Wiseman was a "tier 2" defensive big, I think it's going to be tough to overlook Wiseman and Manny Leaks, who did the same scoring and defensive numbers and even rebounded at a slightly better pace although Cowens was a considerably stronger passer. I'm not sure if he has enough juice to overcome who we've held out.

- Cowens has the title and some awards, but his case is very much based on personal preference. A lot of GMs prefer their bigs not to shoot and thus it hurts the cases for defensive players, but did Cowens really do enough for a long enough period of time to get voted in?

- The end of his career hurt. After winning DPOTY in 2035, he didn't really get the same opportunity moving forward and spent the end of his career on teams that didn't make much noise, which probably disrupted his momentum in terms of building a true Hall of Fame career. 

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 $100 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $100***

[pjclippers]

Sure - was one of the better defensive bigs in the league for a good chunk of his career and had 10 seasons with 3+ blocks and also won a DPOTY award.

[yourkers15]

I go with yes. He's a guy I would wouldn't running my defense as the anchor. I am surprised that he doesn't have more awards especially being on more defensive teams. I feel he was important to any team he was on and because of that he has my vote.

[SpikeLee14]

I mean if this was HOF for being a great defender than sure. No idea how you vote in a basically 11-11 player with 0 All leagues to his name.

Easy NO

[cheddar]

Just not enough for me

[cop5414]

Could go either way to be honest. I'll give the nod to the DPOY otherwise I'm not sure I'd vote him in.

[A. Silver]

No. Good shot blocker, but not an elite rebounder and obviously not enough offense. Hall of Famers don't come off the bench for a mediocre team in their prime either.

[ucfinfan86]

No. We’ve denied better all around players than Cowens

[vanimmer]

Nope

[frosty]

No

[verysilentone]

I did vote yes for Leaks and Wiseman, so i will stay consistent and go yes here.

This vote is not even remotely biased.
Go Noles!

Oh sorry, shouldnt have put that there

[John1974]

Nope

[dash]

Yes. He was a crucial part of some finals teams for me and even got a DPOTY. Don't get the no's.

[HF]

Voted no. While there’s a spot in the hof for guys like this, he wasn’t an elite rebounder and turned it over alot

[leflop]

sadly had to vote no, i just don't see enough awards and stats outside of defense, which is very good. but can you make it into the HOF on defense alone? The best comp I guess would be Ben Wallace...but I think this is still a no. I also don't think Ben Wallace should be HOF to begin with....