should defensive players make the HOF?

[Nick O]

and by defensive i mean like strictly players known for their defense who lack a bit on the offensive end... players i had in mind were Mutumbo , MWP, ben Wallace and shane battier.. players who didnt score much during their career but were lock down defensive players.. can strictly defense get you in the hall of fame? .. im not sure about Battier but i personally believe the other 3 should be there...

edit: im also gonna throw AK47s name out there

[D-Leethal]

Wallace probably should. Dennis Rodman did.

[bigsams50]

I think Big Ben is a HOF.

[abe_froman]

with rodman getting in,it kind of opens the gates.not on battier ,but def be ok with mutumbo and wallace getting in(think he's been severally underrated, his importance/impact has been glossed over),mwp is on the bubble of such a group

[Nick O]

with rodman getting in,it kind of opens the gates.not on battier ,but def be ok with mutumbo and wallace getting in(think he's been severally underrated,glossed over),mwp is on the bubble of such a group

true but MWP actually did have some offense to go with his game. so he might get in... but true. i was a huge mutumbo fan hoping he gets in

[Hellcrooner]

rodman is in.

but other defensive greats like bobby jones, alvin robertson have been snubbed.

so theres no definitive criteria about it from the hof rulers.

IMO they should, and if they dont then they should remove the "pure scorers" that neglected their d and their passing like say, gervin or english.

[FOXHOUND]

Rodman also won 5 rings as a top 3 player on his team, a couple of DPOY awards, was All-NBA a couple of times, made a ton of All-Defensive teams and won about 2 million rebounding titles.

He's not like normal defensive players, he's got quite a resume. Maybe he opened the door for a few of them, but definitely not many. Ben Wallace, Dikembe Mutombo and a guy like Michael Cooper shouldn't be overlooked either.

[KnicksorBust]

Agree with ^^ above. There is no criteria. Each case needs to be judged by a case by case basis. If there were primarily a defensive player then you need the hardware and team success to back it up. In my opinion here are some examples...

Guys who fit that description: Bobby Jones, Michael Cooper, Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace
Guys who don't: Charles Oakley, Larry Nance, Doug Christie, AK47, Shane Battier, Tayshaun Prince

[FOXHOUND]

Agree with ^^ above. There is no criteria. Each case needs to be judged by a case by case basis. If there were primarily a defensive player then you need the hardware and team success to back it up. In my opinion here are some examples...

Guys who fit that description: Bobby Jones, Michael Cooper, Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace
Guys who don't: Charles Oakley, Larry Nance, Doug Christie, AK47, Shane Battier, Tayshaun Prince

Good lists. As much as I love the Oak man, he would belong on the not list. Great Knick, though

[douglas]

Only if their defense is really good.

[KB-Pau-DH2012]

and by defensive i mean like strictly players known for their defense who lack a bit on the offensive end... players i had in mind were Mutumbo , MWP, ben Wallace and shane battier.. players who didnt score much during their career but were lock down defensive players.. can strictly defense get you in the hall of fame? .. im not sure about Battier but i personally believe the other 3 should be there...

edit: im also gonna throw AK47s name out there

Mutombo and Big Ben should. Mutombo for what he's done internationally off the court. Big Ben basically created that Pistons identity of that championship team in 04 and the team that lost in the finals in 05.


Battier really doesn't stand out as a marquee name, and Metta just ****ed up any chance of making the hall after the brawl at the Palace.

[Hellcrooner]

Mutombo and Big Ben should. Mutombo for what he's done internationally off the court. Big Ben basically created that Pistons identity of that championship team in 04 and the team that lost in the finals in 05.


Battier really doesn't stand out as a marquee name, and Metta just ****ed up any chance of making the hall after the brawl at the Palace.

Yeah cause Dennis was such a good citizen and role model

[KB-Pau-DH2012]

Yeah cause Dennis was such a good citizen and role model

Dennis had a lot of off the court issues, but Ron's act basically changed the whole landscape of the NBA starting in 2004.

The Pistons were wearing the replica WCW titles after their 04 Championship Title, and the NBA told them they could not wear such things coming to the arena.


Dress code had to change because players like Iverson were dressing up like thugs with their underwear hanging out, so everyone had to dress up business professional coming to the arena.


The NBA Cares thing was implemented because the image of the brand took such a huge hit after what Artest did.



So many things led to the league becoming so soft and image driven after that Brawl.

[Deception]

I think so, defense is such an important part of the game, Wallace, in my opinion, is a HOF'er, he put up some good numbers and matched up really well against some great centers like Shaq being only 6'9

[Nick O]

rodman is in.

but other defensive greats like bobby jones, alvin robertson have been snubbed.

so theres no definitive criteria about it from the hof rulers.

IMO they should, and if they dont then they should remove the "pure scorers" that neglected their d and their passing like say, gervin or english.

rodman was helped by the team he played on... he was just such a big figure...