Post by Rog on May 7, 2016 7:01:18 GMT
The 24th official nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame Antoine Walker was a fantastic scorer who helped the many teams he played for. He also was a tweener who struggled to find an actual place in the league. Was his scoring enough to override his other, glaring at times, flaws? Or is he a member of the Hall of Very Good but not quite eligible for immortality? Lets look at his case.
Career Stats
35.7 MPG, 21.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 1.9 TOPG, 44.7% from the field, 68.4% from the line, and 36.2% from three.
Best Season: (Jazz 2004) - 29.1 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 2.3 TOPG, 45.6% from the field, 69.8% from the line, 37.2% from three.
Career Highs
Points: 50
Rebounds: 21
Assists: 11
Steals: 6
Blocks: 4
Career Achievements
Championships: 1
Player of the Game: 90
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 343
Triple Doubles: 2
Awards
2001 - All-Star Game Participant
2001 - All-League First Team
2002 - All-League Third Team
2003 - All-Star Game Participant
2003 - All-League Third Team
2004 - All-Star Game Participant
2004 - All-League Second Team
Arguments For Induction
- Was nominated to three All-Star Games. Was also selected to two All-League third teams, a second team, and a first team, showing the league consistently thought he was a top 3 player.
- Won a title with the Nets in 2002 as he was beginning to break out in the league. He spent four years total with the Jazz, Nets, both extremely respected teams around the league.
- Was a great scorer, averaging 21.5 PPG for his career. In fact he is in the top 20 in scoring(at exactly 20) despite his last two years of slowing down and being somewhat injury prone for his career.
- Was pretty darn efficient in his career as well. For a guy that is a mix of a 3 and a 4, shooting around 45% for his career is pretty nice. He also shot 36% from three, which isn't great, but again considering hes a 3/4 that is a nice number. Lastly the fact that he kept his turnovers to under 2 for his career really helped his teams have more chances to put points on the board.
- He spent most of his career playing small forward and he was a great rebounder at that position. He pulled down 9 boards for his career and thats including his last two seasons. In his prime he was consistently above 9 rebounds.
- Overall, Walker had a lot going for him. He was a great scorer, efficient, pulled down rebounds, and was a good passer. He doesn't appear to be a cancer. Quite the contrary actually, his peak was fantastic. For nine years you could count on 23 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2 stocks, less than 2 turnovers. That is Hall of Fame worthy if you ask me.
Arguments Against Induction
- Only four years he was a top 3 player? Seriously? Is that a Hall of Famer? I honestly don't think it is. I just can't accept a guy who only was an award winner four times in his career. Just. Not. Enough.
- While yes he won a title, he also played for the Clippers for five seasons and the Wolves in the midst of a rebuild, he only truly competed for five or six seasons of his career, and that really makes a person wonder if he was a true winner?
- Again, he really didn't have a true position in NBN. He spent most of his time at SF but didn't really provide enough stocks or was presumably quick enough to guard threes that well. He didn't appear to be a bad defender, but awards wise he didn't win ANY.
- You couldn't count on him always to actually be on the floor. He was surprisingly injury prone missing 94 games, just over a season, over his 12 year career. If you are a true elite, you better be on the floor whenever you can, and Walker just wasn't.
- I just don't see it. Not enough awards, doesn't have any huge defining category where you go, yup hes a Hall of Famer, and he bounced around quite enough. Wouldn't you think if he was a Hall of Famer he would have been held onto more as the gem he'd have had to be? I also question how much of a winner he was. All of this together breeds a classic case of "Hall of Very Good", but flat out is not a Hall of Famer.
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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