Do you think Yao deserves to be in the hall of fame based on basketball merits?

You know. I struggle a bit with this one. Yea. He does not have enough NBA merit. But he was so unique. I think some consideration has to be given to what if. What if he wasn't injured. Extend his best years 4 or 5 more years. Dude was talented. How many other 7 footers are sent to shoot technicals? Really wish he and tmac had Kevin Willis's longevity. May be a few more trophy's in the case.

What if. Story of this franchise.

 

All I gotta say is eff Jalen Rose, that dorky bald headed geek and the rest of ESPN.

 

Not everyone could be a shining ambassador for their nation. To me, that is part of 'merits'. He played hard, well, and with the upmost respect for his competitors, all while shouldering a nation on his back.

Props to Yao, and congratulations.

 

Dude, Walton was a three time college player of the year back when freshman couldn't play varsity and he won two national championships in addition to an NBA MVP award and two NBA rings. He was sixth man of the year on the '86 Celtics which are often considered the best team ever and he was part of the 88 game win streak at UCLA. His resume is by far Hall of Fame worthy and he's also the most entertaining announcer everrr. Shame on you.

 

Asking if Yao deserves to be in the HOF based solely on NBA merits is like asking if an author deserves the Pulitzer based solely on books sold, or if a film deserves an Oscar based on IMDB rating. These awards are given based on objective as well as subjective criteria, and to strip either away would render it entirely meaningless.

 

If just solely based on basketball merits, probably not. But that's not what the hall of fame is about.

 

I think I'll take that back. Have you ever seen a 7'6" BB players with that level of skills?

 

He was an elite defensive anchor, but a below average rebounder who couldn't deal with double teams well, but was death in single coverage. He certainly was unique, but based on what he produced on the basketball court alone, I think that there are other players deserving of going ahead of him.

 

Fair enough.

Yao was a special player, no question about it, absolutely beautiful. That said, i may be delusional but i think without (at least) his injury, we could've won that series with the Lakers and than the title, Nuggets and Magic where not as good as us.

 

Based on basketball merits he's the best Chinese basketball player ever. Chinese make up a crap ton of the earth's population. So yeah, he does deserve to go in because it is called BASKETBALL Hall of Fame, and not "only what you do in your NBA playing career counts" hall of fame. At any rate the reality is that the Basketball hall of fame is worth more than what you strictly produce, by its very words of "FAME" purely statistical merits won't cut it I mean between a guy like Sean Marks who was an actual NBA player and Mark Cuban who has never played basketball at the pro level in his entire life who deserves to be in the hall of fame more?

A hall of fame based solely on basketball production is really stupid and would be really boring fast, thus negating the whole point of having a hall of fame.

 

Yes, because he could make FTs and was very fundamentally sound. Almost as good as Dwight today.

 

Yes. He has had a huge impact on the game of basketball. I miss watching him shoot free throws.

 

I voted no - but the caveat is that I'm skeptical of a lot of the guys they put in the Hall (Mitch Richmond, Bernard King, Connie Hawkins, David Thompson, Jamaal Wilkes).

If those guys are Hall of Famers then Yao is absolutely. In my own personal hall, perhaps there are 100 players instead of 175 and Yao isn't there.

(Note: In Basketball-Reference's Hall of Fame Probability Calculator, Yao has above a 50% probability, and is ranked 109th lifetime in HOF credentials, I think that is based on NBA career alone. If the criteria is "one of the 175 most important basketball players ever, then Yao is definitely one.)

 

I'm fine with him getting in...that's great.

But if it were based solely on his career with the Rockets, absolutely not.

I appreciated Yao...I came to resent Les' refusal to move on from him (because of his off-court value) when it was well past time to move on. Guys at about 7'4" and above flame out in their early 30's without exception, and everyone knew that going in. But none of that was Yao's fault, and I never questioned Yao's heart or his effort. He was very good...I don't think he was great.

 

Yao is at the very front of the tier that included Brad Daugherty-Rik Smits (all-stars, not HOFers)... but right behind the tier that included Robert Parish-Alonzo Mourning (both HOFers).

If he had played just a few years earlier... before zones... he would have been unstoppable to the point that even with a shortened career, he probably puts up the numbers and wins needed to make it on its own.

But alas, he helped shuffle in the era of the neutralized big-man... which basically has led to the total small-ball era/big-men who can't shoot 3's are liabilities era.

Its not a knock on Yao, as he was still was able to produce (but not as dominant)... and ultimately didn't have the overall numbers or wins needed... but at the same time, nobody is going to question his overall impact on the game and what he was able to accomplish in such a short time.

 

Yeah, I was thinking about his Celtics days. He was healthy in the playoffs for once in Portland and they won the title.

 

I thought DudeWah was talking about Yao's NBA career. Why bring the college accomplishment of Walton? If you want to include non-NBA basketball, Yao dominated the Chinese league like Wilt dominated the NBA. I am not saying Chinese basketball is as good as the NCAA. Anyway, he could have been a great college player if he was an American.

Chill. I wasn't trying to diss Walton. I said I loved him. I was just pointing out that Walton and Yao had similar health problems that prevented them from building an all-time great NBA career. If Walton deserves the HOF, so does Yao.

 

had yao been in a championship roster, there would be no question about nba merits. He would make the best in the game, duncan in his prime and shaq in his prime look like shawn bradly playing defense. It was Yao and Tmac with nobody else. This is not like some harlem globetrotter getting in.

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Health and longevity are too big a part of it when you're talking about NBA on the court merit for a hall of fame, imo. He only had 4 seasons in his entire career where he played more than 57 games.

 

Jeez. 28 pts 13 reb 6 ast against the Spurs. Man I miss those days of a big man getting those numbers.