2003 HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCEMENT (no inductees)
Posted: February 20th, 2024, 11:09 am
***For immediate release by your SLN Historians***
For the first time in SLN history, we were faced with an uninspiring set of Retirings to consider for induction into the prestigious SLN Hall of Fame. Mookie Blaylock? Elite glue guy on the original Suns superteam but hard to say he was Hall-worthy. Shawn Kemp? Best known for a disastrous trade that hamstrung the Magic for so many years. Bitch Michmond? Actually had some fun years on the early Run TMC Magic squads but has fallen off hard in the back half of his career. Kevin Johnson? A creation draft first rounder that continues to haunt me to this day.
The only candidate that merited real consideration in our eyes was the Grain God himself, Glen Rice. GG had a super fun SLN career - part of a three-headed perimeter monster alongside MJ & Kerr on the Knicks from 96-99, and then as the critical added scoring juice that tipped the Bucks championship run over the edge. His closing year as a bench guy on the Rockets shouldn't overshadow who he was in his prime - an elite bucket getter and efficient scorer at volume, with some decent rebounding at the 3 and about a steal a game. Of course, the biggest part of his resume - an SLN-high 3 championships RINGZZZ - weighs heavily....although it was hard to say that GG was ever the best player / driving force on those championship squads.
Ultimately, Rice's statistical & career achievements did not meet the bar for a vote in our book. Based on the formula that Nick and I developed, Rice scored only a 19/130, whereas Hakeem scored a 92/130 - we consider anything in the 60-70 range to be worthy of a HoF vote. His final stat line of 22/5/2 is solid but not spectacular, and he was a negative stock: TO guy pretty much every year. Awards-wise, he only nabbed 1 All-Star Game appearance (though he was MVP of the '96 edition) and averaged just ~4-5 Player of the Games per year. Nonetheless we will remember the Grain God & his career fondly!
However, Nick and I run a democratic process; if there is a strong push for Rice due to his contributions to three championship teams, he will be eligible for second ballot Hall of Fame honors aka we will consider putting him up for a vote next offseason. Also, now that we are fully in the mode of only considering SLN achievements for the Hall, holler at us if you have thoughts on what to do with guys like Rice who are not first ballot locks like Hakeem. I expect to see a lot more of these guys trickling in and doesn't make sense to vote on a bunch of guys who likely won't make it.
-Jayant & Nick
For the first time in SLN history, we were faced with an uninspiring set of Retirings to consider for induction into the prestigious SLN Hall of Fame. Mookie Blaylock? Elite glue guy on the original Suns superteam but hard to say he was Hall-worthy. Shawn Kemp? Best known for a disastrous trade that hamstrung the Magic for so many years. Bitch Michmond? Actually had some fun years on the early Run TMC Magic squads but has fallen off hard in the back half of his career. Kevin Johnson? A creation draft first rounder that continues to haunt me to this day.
The only candidate that merited real consideration in our eyes was the Grain God himself, Glen Rice. GG had a super fun SLN career - part of a three-headed perimeter monster alongside MJ & Kerr on the Knicks from 96-99, and then as the critical added scoring juice that tipped the Bucks championship run over the edge. His closing year as a bench guy on the Rockets shouldn't overshadow who he was in his prime - an elite bucket getter and efficient scorer at volume, with some decent rebounding at the 3 and about a steal a game. Of course, the biggest part of his resume - an SLN-high 3 championships RINGZZZ - weighs heavily....although it was hard to say that GG was ever the best player / driving force on those championship squads.
Ultimately, Rice's statistical & career achievements did not meet the bar for a vote in our book. Based on the formula that Nick and I developed, Rice scored only a 19/130, whereas Hakeem scored a 92/130 - we consider anything in the 60-70 range to be worthy of a HoF vote. His final stat line of 22/5/2 is solid but not spectacular, and he was a negative stock: TO guy pretty much every year. Awards-wise, he only nabbed 1 All-Star Game appearance (though he was MVP of the '96 edition) and averaged just ~4-5 Player of the Games per year. Nonetheless we will remember the Grain God & his career fondly!
However, Nick and I run a democratic process; if there is a strong push for Rice due to his contributions to three championship teams, he will be eligible for second ballot Hall of Fame honors aka we will consider putting him up for a vote next offseason. Also, now that we are fully in the mode of only considering SLN achievements for the Hall, holler at us if you have thoughts on what to do with guys like Rice who are not first ballot locks like Hakeem. I expect to see a lot more of these guys trickling in and doesn't make sense to vote on a bunch of guys who likely won't make it.
-Jayant & Nick