Positives -8 All Star appearances -Face of the NBA due to all of his fans overseas -Great person off the court and on the court Negatives -No real big playoff runs -Multiple seasons, and career, cut short due to injuries I'm sure I left a few things out, but my friend and I got into it over this and I wanted the opinion from you guys. Sorry, I have to head out kind of quick. Feel free to post your reasons. Pugs
Unquestionably yes. Yao: 486 games, 19 ppg, 9.2 rpg, brought millions of Chinese fans to the NBA Walton: 468 games, 13.3 ppg, 10.5 rpg, brought hundreds of Deadheads to the NBA
I'm on the pro-HOF side, to throw it out there. Perhaps this comparison is a little off, but look at Dražen Petrović. Yes, I know he passed away in the leaguhe. He played four seasons in the league, before having his career tragically cut short. Yao played nine, made multiple All-Star teams and All-NBA teams, and had his career cut shot by unfortunate injuries. But what is important isn't the statistics or the awards. What is important is that both Petrovic and Yao opened doors that had never been opened before. Petrovic led the way for European players to make it into the NBA; without him, I do not think we'd have the joy of seeing Dirk Nowitzski or Pau Gasol. In Yao's case, he built a bridge culturally from the USA to China. He exposed a country of 3 billion+ people to the NBA, making the NBA not just a North American sport, but a global phenomenon. He also showed that Oriental/Asian players could make it in the league, as evidenced by Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue (Not the best players, but more will come). For what he's done globally for the NBA, I think that he has a spot in the HOF.
As of right now, no. Not close. 20 years from now, if he is still one of the global faces of basketball and a humanitarian the level of Mutombo, then yes.
Agreed. If Petrovic made it, so should Yao, who played at a top level for longer and was a lot more instrumental in exposing the sport to an entire continent. Looking at the list of inductees to the Hall of Fame, there are many foreign players who never even set foot in the NBA, yet still were inducted. If players such as Dražen Dalipagić, Dino Meneghin can make it based on their professional achievements, there's no reason Yao shouldn't. Lest we forget, Yao has long been THE best player in Asia and has led China through a dominating spell in the continent, and in addition to Sun and Yi, also paved the way for Ha Seung-jin and many more to come.
He will most probably get in, but not because of his on-court accomplishments, because frankly, they have been disappointing.
Based on statistics alone, he would not make it. However, the fall of fame is also about a person's influence to the game of basketball as a whole. Ever since Yao was on the Rockets, basketball has become THE sport in China. Basketball is now more popular than ever in Asia, and it accounts for what, half of the population in the world? He should DEFINITELY make it. It's not even a question.
