The New York Post’s Peter Vescey takes a dim view of the late Dennis Johnson failing to gain election to the Naismith Museum & Hall Of Fame, and
Upon discovering Sunday afternoon that Dennis Johnson wasn’t elected to the Hall of Fame as part of this year’s exceptionally qualified inductee harvest – Pat Riley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Adrian Dantley, Bill Davidson, Kathy Rush and Dick Vitale (be nice) – I sent the following e-mail to roughly 300 Hoop du Jour (most directly connected to the NBA) subscribers:
“D.J. got stiffed again.”
Thirty-seven responded.
“How can there be a basketball Hall of Fame and exclude D. J.?”
“Unfreaking believable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Are these [24] committee members out of their minds? What did D.J. do to earn such non-respect?”
“If D.J. were alive I’d suggest he consult with Susan Lucci to get guidance through this trauma.”
Chicago-based agent Mark Bartlestein said it best and speaks for us non-HOF-voters.
“Coaches, organizations and those handing out the honors love to talk about sacrificing personal statistics for the sake of success yet rarely reward it,” he said. “Dennis Johnson epitomizes that. He did so many things that effected winning. Many were intangibles. Much of what he did gave his team’s superstars the freedom to focus on what they did best.
“No, Dennis Johnson’s stats aren’t Hall of Fame. But his game was Hall of Fame. You actually have to understand the game to understand that.”
CBS Sports’ Gregg Doyel, who previously vowed Dickie V. would reach the Hall “over my dead body”, neatly forgets the implied promise to off himself, instead adds insult to injury after Memphis squandered a 9 point lead with fewer than 2 minutes remaining last night.
No longer will Darius Washington — who missed those two free throws in the 2005 Conference USA title game to cost Memphis a spot in the NCAA tournament — be remembered for the biggest choke in school history.
I guess Doyel doesn’t remember what happened when Béla Bollobás blew a 7 goal air hockey lead to Ralph J. Faudree.
The basketball HoF is a joke, almost rivaling the one in Cleveland, but DJ was never good enough. It should never be a place reserved for good players who did nice and tidy things as the fourth or fifth option on legendary teams.
This sounds like an insult, but I’m asking in the spirit of open inquiry: what could possibly be gained by people continuing to put Gregg Doyel’s writing in print? Who is helped? Will no one think of the children?
This is pretty mystifying. Is there a fan favorite HoF? Johnson was even getting more MVP votes than Williams or Sikma during his Seattle days.
All of the sports halls are a joke. DJ is definitely a hall of famer. What has Vitale done? The hall should honor players and coaches first. How is Chris Mullin not in? Or Jamaal Wilkes? Or Bill Laimbeer who has been a winner and allstar at every level? Or Artis Gilmore? There are so many that have been excluded. What took Pat Riley so long to get in? What is the criteria and why is it different for coaches and players? Fuck the halls.
No one else should be inducted into the basketball hof until artis gilmore gets voted in. That includes mj. What an injustice. Don’t take my word for it, take a look at his stats. As the Big O says the numbers don’t lie.