Clearly, he doesn't know jack about Sampson's career. Only two players have ever been the men's College Player of the Year 3 times. Ralph Sampson and Bill Walton. Ralph deserved to get in on his college record alone. That he accomplished so much during his far too brief NBA career simply made it a slam dunk.
I'll take the Hakeem-Sampson "Twin Towers" combo over the Hakeem-Magic one any day. Sampson would have still broken down, whether he played for Houston, LA, or the Shanghai Sharks.
He broke down because his hip injury vs Boston was not taken care off correctly. He was carted off to the hospital and he played 3 days later. In today's game he would get better health care plus they would sit him out a whole year
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yXOts9kaiLQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> nuff said.
Thought I did but I guess it didn't go through. It wasn't a troll, just an honest question. Not sure how the tone came off. Why is it so crazy I don't know a lot about a guy who only spent a few years with the rockets when I was 4? i have seen the shot against the lakers though. Pretty amazing. As I said in my post, he had done a lot in the NCAA but not pros. Didn't know it wasn't the nba hall of fame but I guess I should have with all the talk about the phi slama jamma coach not in it. I was looking at a list it the tallest guys to play in the pros and he was on there as a HOFer but the stats weren't great as a pro. It didn't make sense. I thought he played for enough teams that I could put it in the dish. The Garm is a headache. I enjoy the rockets and I'll read threads and closely follow news threads but I don't have it in me to post there anymore and that used to be the only forum I read. I stay away like the plague after a loss.
Well... what sort of response did you expect? On a Rockets board, you question the validity of Sampson in the HoF. And you also snuck in a shot at Yao as well. Again, Rockets board. And you did it all in a 4 sentence post.
He only played for the rockets for a few years and the consensus is that his time with the Rockets is not the biggest reason he was in the HOF. Ugh a shot at Yao? I said I would not describe him as a Hall of fame player. I also pointed out he had better stats than Sampson. So butthurt over a neutral observation? Taking a shot at someone is "Yao sucks". See you can't talk about anything without it turning into some dumb dickfest. I'm surprised you didn't say I wasn't a "true fan". Edit: I'm in a bad mood. Sorry for the attitude.
Ralph deserved the HoF. 1st four years in the NBA were very good to great. Like Yao his career was cheated by injuries that date back to his back injury in Boston in year 2. The biggest thing was that he was a 3 time college player of the year and people were thinking he was going to be the best player since Wilt when he went pro. Yao is not in the HoF because Yao does not feel enough time has passed since he has been out of the game, but Yao will be in the HoF some day. It took Ralph decades to get in and I don't know how long it will take Yao but he will be in one day. Like Ralph, Yao will get in based on his body of work outside the NBA such as the global effect he had on basketball.
Sampson was amazing. He had the coordination of a PG. He could dribble down the court full speed. Without the injuries, he would have been one of the all time greats. Same for Penny Hardaway.
The Twin Towers would have worked better if Ralph had actually bought into being a TOWER. Sampson in the ASG with Magic had the basketball experience he dreamt of. Had RS actually stayed healthy enough long enough he likely would have etched into a star-worthy role. Yes, HoF on college alone.
Lol, the troll talk is so overused... Many people dont know that its the Basketball Hall of Fame and not the NBA Hall of Fame. It was a legitimate question. Part of the purpose of these boards is to ask questions and have others who are more knowledgable on a certain topic, answer.
It just appeared to be a shot at Yao since it seemed like Yao was brought into the conversation for no legitimate reason. Why would a HOF player be compared to a non-HOF player to gauge whether that HOF player deserves to be in the HOF? (Yes, 4 HOF's in a sentence!) Reading your original post again, would the addition or removal of that last sentence change your question/points at all... It just seems tacked on. Edit - As for the attitude thing...*shrug* no worries, it's Clutchfans 2013. I was just responding to your "tone" comment in my post. I probably shouldn't have added that last (unnecessary) sentence with the smiley face, people hate smiley faces.
Why does basketball take college/international/minors into consideration, but baseball doesn't? Baseball includes amateur baseball in various exhibits, but doesn't involve them in induction process (or the player exhibits as far as I know). Of course that is really a whole different discussion. For what the basketball HOF is, Sampson belongs, and probably so does Yao. Personally, I wish for a much higher standard regarding professional achievements, but it is what it is.
Hey, then my bad. I'll edit my "troll" comment. Sorry, but after countless posts by a bunch of us about the topic over the years, it can be difficult to realize some members simply don't know this stuff. -
