Why isn't this guy in the Hall of Fame? Check out his bio and stats. Adrian Dantley has got to be the most overlooked great player in NBA history. I see both Alex English and Pete Maravich made the hall. I don't understand the exclusion of A.D.
Geez...sucks to be in the league at the same time as Dr. J, Magic, and Jordan. 30 PPG, 6 RPG, 4 APG on 57(!) shooting in '81-'82, and the most they could manage was All-NBA second team.
ouch, 3 and a half turnovers a game. well he wasnt on a bad (as in record-wise) team, so there goes the stephen jackson argument.
Dominique Wilkins Career 24.8 ppg 6.70 rpg 2.5 apg 1.28 spg Best year (85-86) 30.3 ppg (1st in nba) 7.9 rpg 2.6 apg 1.77 spg Honors: All-NBA First Team (1986); All-NBA Second Team (1987, '88, '91, '93); All-NBA Third Team (1989, '94); All-NBA Rookie Team (1983); Nine-time NBA All-Star (1986-94); Slam Dunk champ (1985, '90); Ninth on all time scoring list with 26,668 total points; Eleventh on all time points per game list with 24.8 Greatest dunker of all time!
good stats... maybe what hurts him is that he never played a full season. and ironically detroit traded him one year before they won, so he never got a ring either.
Ever see AD play? His entire game consisted of backing down his defender in the post with his big butt, usually getting fouled and taking 15 seconds per free throw at the line. It was very effective but not particularly inspiring. I don't remember AD being much of rebounder or defender either, but I could be wrong. Basically, I'd guess that he's not in the Hall because his game was very one-dimensional. Plus the Jazz teams that were built arond him didn't go deep in the playoffs. I'd put Alex English in the Hall before AD, in fact.
To put it in perspective for some people who didn't see him play, all of the changes to Charles Barkley's game as his NBA career progressed (going from being a fast break/quickness&power guy to being the guy who inspired the 5 second rule) were directly attributed by him to have occured as a result of his admiration of, and eventual desire to emulate Dantley. As with Barkley, Dantley's would back you down as far as he could push you, pump-fake several times while paying close attention to your response. He wanted you to jump, in which case he'd jump into you and get the foul, but would pass out of the double team wonderfuly if it came. If no response was forthcoming, he'd eventually launch a fade-away as the clock ran out. It is incredibly boring, but it is a strategy that anybody can use to be really effective. Dantley was about 6'4", 200 lbs, and was a dominant post-up player in the NBA. That pretty much says it all.
In fairness, the young Chuck did a lot of running and dunking and such, it wasn't till he got old till the back it in, back it in, back it approach became his staple. Edit: sorry you got it.
