I find it hard to believe that Jerry Sloan made it in and no Rudy T. Rudy was a much better player and he took his team to the promised land twice, while Sloan has a below .500 record in the playoffs.
I disagree with durvasa,he coached Houston for 12 straight years,won 2 NBA Championships,to Sloan's zero. He also coached the US team to an Olympic gold medal. The only coaching blemish was dropping midway in the regular season with the Lakers. He also scored over 13,300 points with a 17.4 points and a 8.1 rebound average at a 50% shooting rate and was a 5 time NBA All-Star. Sloan played 11 years as a pro with a 14 point average with 10,571 points with a FG percentage of .427 with 2 all star appearances. He has 21 years with one team,but Rudy T is more deserving of the honor. Sloan is an X and O's guy,but he deliberately has encouraged ugly play and flopping,something which Rudy T never did. What Rudy T lacked in X and O's was made up in his heyday,by leading us to a 2nd back to back Championship as a 6th seed. Rudy T had the heart of a champion. The Rockets should fight to get him into the HOF.
Hands down Rudy T deserves to be HOF. You dont win two rings and coach an olympic team and not be HOF worthy.
He certainly should be in the Hall. Of course, I'm still waiting for Guy Lewis to get in. It's a travesty that he hasn't.
A list of NBA coaches that have made it into the HOF as coaches. I'm adding Hubie Brown to this list as well, even though technically he was inducted as a "Contributor": Code: 1964 Kenneth Loeffler Coach 1968 Alvin Julian Coach 1969 Red Auerbach Coach 1977 Frank McGuire Coach 1986 Red Holzman Coach 1992 Jack Ramsay Coach 1994 Chuck Daly Coach 1995 John Kundla Coach 1998 Lenny Wilkens Coach 1998 Alex Hannum Coach 2002 Larry Brown Coach 2004 Bill Sharman Coach 2005 Hubie Brown Contributor 2007 Phil Jackson Coach 2008 Pat Riley Coach 2009 Jerry Sloan Coach
His winning % wound up being nearly identical to Phil Jackson's who came in the following year. That bronze medal with non-pro players and subsequent gold should have sealed him a spot.
Though we love Calvin Murphy, a bit surprising he and his ONE All Star game made it over 5 time All Star and as a coach 2 NBA titles and 1 Gold medal winning Rudy T. Plus during the NBA lockout, Rudy T winning a bronze medal in the World Championships with DAVID WOOD as a feature player. I've been over this already about Rudy T's Lakers tenure. He had a BETTER winning % in his coaching stint with the Lakers than Phil Jackson had the following 2 years afterward. And 1/4 of the time Rudy had NO Kobe Bryant and still had an above .500 record without him.
Sloan was inducted as a coach, not him being a player. Other than the 2 rings (yeah I know that counts alot), Rudy T's coaching resume doesn't stack up to Sloan's. The HOF rewards consistency and longevity. Why is a half-a-season coaching stint being used to argue for someone's credentials? That's like putting down a job on your resume that you've only been there for a month.
This will be the first year Rudy T is eligible to enter as a coach. The HoF voters seem pretty lenient about whom the let into the hall, and he has a pretty good reputation. I think he'll get in.
I don't think there's any restriction on when you can get inducted as a coach. Lots of coaches got inducted while still active.
u make it sound like that Hakeem had little to do with the 2 rings. Hakeem's team would have won the 2 ring no matter who the coach was. Rudy was merely riding the coattail of the true HoF Hakeem
Chuck Daly got inducted into the HOF in 1994. He won two championships with Detroit, had a few other nice years, and he coached the most stacked team in basketball history to an Olympic gold medal. Am I missing something else in his resume?
There have been a lot of those. But i think in combination with what he did as a player he deserves it. Most likely he wont get it though
I'm not saying Rudy T shouldn't be in the HOF, I'm saying I don't see the big deal about the Olympic team in the nineties as far as accomplishments
I think him coaching the non-pros to a bronze is what's considered the bigger accomplishment. But I don't remember where they were expected to place at the time.
He is right. The rule for coaches is you must be retired for 5 years, or be active for 25 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_Hall_of_Fame He certainly should and will make it.
