Tony Parker and Pau Gasol in the HOF

[penbeast0]

Anyone else surprised that Parker got it? I just never saw him as that caliber of player. Even Pau was a bit iffy though his international play made him much closer to a sure thing.

[Owly]

Can't really type now but ...
Gasol no surprise.
Parker not a surprise but I think he's pretty mainstream overrated, mentally attached to Manu.

[Matt15]

Pau’s championships with Lakers/Kobe help a lot as well. Same with Parker and the Spurs/Duncan to go along with a FMVP award.

[Colbinii]

I believe both Gasol and Parker help tell the history of the NBA to a degree where they should be in.

Also, when the bar is Earl Monroe, both these guys deserve to be in.

[MiamiBulls]

Tony Parker is a 6x All Star 4x All NBA, if Ginobili who is only a 2x All Star 2x All NBA gets in then Parker was a 100% lock to get in.

Gasol is a no brainer, his overall career is far too storied to not get in.

[trex_8063]

Pau Gasol is not [and shouldn't be] any surprise. He's got probably 2-3 seasons peaking around a top-10 player in the league, has a LONG career with who knows how many seasons at a level of a fringe All-Star or better. Two titles as the clear 2nd-best player, a number of accolades to his credit [fwiw], and some notably high places in some career total box stats (for example: 47th all-time in points, 29th in rebounds, tied for 23rd in blocks).......

And that's before we even consider his international and olympic career.

He's EASILY a HOF'er when looking at all of it. Frankly, I think he's a shoe-in with his NBA career alone.


Tony Parker's resume is less robust, but even with him I can't say I'm surprised. He was the 3rd wheel [or even 2nd once or twice?] on a number of contender teams (were contenders most of his career); hell, can even make a dark-horse case he was their BEST player in '13 [at least in the rs, and held up better than most years for the ps], a team that nearly won the title. Solid contributor [at a minimum] for teams that made 6 Finals appearances, winning 5.

He's 60th all-time [NBA and ABA] in career points scored in rs, 19th all-time in assists; while playing nearly his whole career for dynasty. In the playoffs, his all-time rank is 11th and 6th, respectively.

He's got a small international/olympic career to consider, as well, iirc.


Is it really a shocker that he'd make the HOF?

[JimmyFromNz]

No surprises for me personally. He was part of the fabric of the Spurs Dynasty with good FIBA accolades to bolster his candidacy.

A finals mvp, who produced some high level seasons towards the end of his career on the periphery of MVP discussions for one of these. Using this as a reflection of his extended value rather than suggesting he was a serious candidate.

[rk2023]

Yeah, being foreign players (huge emphasis on the ‘Basketball’ HOF and its framing) as well as key figures on 7X title teams between the two is going to move the needle. As far as it goes in the sense of the general class, I am stoked for Saturday. My first taste of basketball and getting into the game featured all of these players to a decent extent (especially Wade and Nowitzki), so it’s a full circle moment for me to see these players and Coach Pop inducted into the Hall! Also hoping for a Wemby appearance

[Cavsfansince84]

I don't think anyone would balk at the idea of Worthy being in so not sure why anyone would be surprised by Parker's inclusion. If Worthy is anywhere near the baseline then Parker was a lock imo.I think at this point any guy with a reasonable case for being top 100 all time(obviously skewing a bit more towards int'l and college play) has to be thought of as getting in and I think Parker is at around top 80.

[Doctor MJ]

Anyone else surprised that Parker got it? I just never saw him as that caliber of player. Even Pau was a bit iffy though his international play made him much closer to a sure thing.

Not surprised. As a general rule it seems like basketball HOF voters like giving the nod to trios. If memory serves, there are no cores that won multiple titles that don't have at least 3 prime players in the Hall.

For this reason I see Klay Thompson as a lock even though I don't think he should be seen as even Parker's equal.

And then of course there's the matter that Parker is an international spearhead. That was always going to help Parker if he got close, and he definitely got close.

[SHAQ32]

I mean, didn't Dino Radja get in? I kind of want Boris Diaw to get in now.

[-Luke-]

If it was an NBA-only HOF, both would be borderline cases for me, although I would include both of them. But their national team career makes it kind of a no-brainer.

[Slava]

Well deserved for Pau. I don't think Parker is iffy either. He is a multiple time all star and also has a finals MVP to his name while playing on a team with a top 10 player.

[Jaivl]

Pau would be a lock even if he had played 0 NBA minutes.

[eminence]

Anyone else surprised that Parker got it? I just never saw him as that caliber of player. Even Pau was a bit iffy though his international play made him much closer to a sure thing.

Not surprised. As a general rule it seems like basketball HOF voters like giving the nod to trios. If memory serves, there are no cores that won multiple titles that don't have at least 3 prime players in the Hall.

For this reason I see Klay Thompson as a lock even though I don't think he should be seen as even Parker's equal.

And then of course there's the matter that Parker is an international spearhead. That was always going to help Parker if he got close, and he definitely got close.

I think they've been moving away from that a bit - 1st 3peat Bulls only have MJ/Pippen, Shaq/Kobe, Kobe/Pau, Hakeem/Drexler. Though Bosh did get in, so who knows.

[HeartBreakKid]

A HOF caliber player is a perennial all-star, Tony Parker is definitely that.

Parker had a full career, had couple seasons with good MVP placements, a lot of media accolades, 3 or 4 rings, finals mvp. International career is nothing too special but is a core player from a power country. Won Eurobasket the same year he was one of the highest rated players in the NBA and was the top scorer during that run.

Pau Gasol won the world championship and the MVP in the world games. Nearly won the Olympics twice. Bunch of Eurobasket stuff. Had a very long career in the NBA. Good amount of media awards, and was a major piece in two titles.

How could they not be in the HOF? HOF is not for superstars only and never has been.


As others mentioned Gasol is a lock even if he never played in the NBA. Tony might be borderline depending on what their standards are for international accomplishments (and if he never played in the NBA he'd just rack up club play stats in Europe), but pan-european play isn't irrelevant in the process.

[Dr Positivity]

Parker fits in with some guys like Worthy, Bosh, Parish, Klay where if they were carrying the Kings or something instead the 3rd most important player on a multi title core (sometimes #2 for Parker) they might have fallen a little short of HOF, but as it stands, it's fine to reward them for playing big role on those teams and multi all-star career with (probably a reach at the time for both) Finals MVP and top 5 MVP finishes.

[SK21209]

I don't think anyone would balk at the idea of Worthy being in so not sure why anyone would be surprised by Parker's inclusion. If Worthy is anywhere near the baseline then Parker was a lock imo.I think at this point any guy with a reasonable case for being top 100 all time(obviously skewing a bit more towards int'l and college play) has to be thought of as getting in and I think Parker is at around top 80.

I like the Worthy comparison for Parker. Parker definitely belongs, in that 2012-2014 stretch he was 2nd Team All NBA each year and was arguably the second best PG in the league (its him or Russ, Curry wasn't quite at that level in 2012).

[Stan]

Have you seen who they've let into the HOF? How would these two making it possibly surprise you? Basically any All-NBA caliber player who wins a ring in his prime is a lock to make the HOF.

[trex_8063]

Anyone else surprised that Parker got it? I just never saw him as that caliber of player. Even Pau was a bit iffy though his international play made him much closer to a sure thing.

Not surprised. As a general rule it seems like basketball HOF voters like giving the nod to trios. If memory serves, there are no cores that won multiple titles that don't have at least 3 prime players in the Hall.

Horace Grant ('91-'93 Bulls; also a title with Lakers) still languishes outside the Hall.