ESPN.com has a poll asking whether Mourning deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. The polls show that about 52% believe he shouldn't and 48% believe he should. I think he deserves to be. He put up solid #'s for his career but never had the luxury to be surrounded by quality players i.e. Kevin Garnett before this season. ZO never had that other star to complement him as Shaq does in Kobe, or Jordan did in Pippen, or Malone in Stockton. He averaged about 21ppg. 9.8 rebds. and over 3 blks for his career. He won defensive player of the year twice and should have won MVP the year Malone won (I think '97). I heard David Aldrige arguing that ZO didn't belong in the Hall because he never won a championship. THat's kinda weak b/c with that arguement Barkley, Stockton, Ewing and possibly Malone don't belong there either. Zo might not have accomplished all that they have but he had a solid career, especially if you include his collegiate achievements and winning a gold medal. What do you think?
I'd put him in. I think his situation is similar to Drazen Petrovic... both played well, though not as long as one would have hoped and both represented the game well... and both, in some ways, came to represent more than the stats.
I don't know. He certainly was a very good and dominant center. I think I would lean towords putting him in. I need to think about it though. Did he have that little something extra that transcended the game? I just don't know. Pippen most definitely does not belong. I think that if you put Ewing in the Hall then Zo should go because I think Zo was as good as Ewing. I'm one of those that thinks Ewing is another borderline candidate. Had Ewing played for the Rockets he would not even be the 3rd best center for our team, he would have been the 4th. I say he goes in.
The difference between Zo and Petrovich is that it is not the NBA hall of fame, it is the Basketball Hall of Fame and he could have went in based on the merits of his game before he ever game to the NBA. Is Yao Ming better than Zo was? Not yet and even if he never acheives the same level of success of Zo, Yao Ming will be a no brainer just based on his overseas success and the impact he had coming to the NBA. Zo is pretty much limited to his accomplishments in the NBA. Petrocivh and Yao Ming both can say that they have transcended the game which makes putting them in easy. Did Zo transcend the game? I think Zo should be in just based on his performance but I don't think it is as easy as someone like Petrovich.
If he doesn't get into the hall of fame, at least make a cast of his leg and put it next to a bust of Jeff Van Gundy and label it "fight of the century"
He played w/ Larry Johnson but Johnson wasn't a great player. He was a let me get my points and stats guy. They only played together 3 years I believe. Larry Johnson doesn't come close to being a quality side-kick like Kobe is to shaq, pippen to Jordan and all the ones I named. Plus LJ had that back injury his 2nd or 3rd season in the league and wasn't a good player after that. He played with Mashburn in Miami but Mash wasn't the player he is now. If you recall, he passed up game winning shots in consecutive years in decisive games agains the knicks in the playoffs. He passed the ball to Clearance Weatherspoon instead of taking the shot himself, what a coward. Tim Hardaway was really good and made many clutch shots for the Heat but he wore down when it came to playoff time; he knees couldn't handle the grueling season and broke down in the playoffs. I know it's tough because he didn't get to finish his career and never had the oportunity to win a title but it makes for a good discussion.
Exactly what has he done positive for his career or the league that Mourning has not done? He was never a successful leader of a team. He had his chances in Portland, Houston and also Chicago when MJ was retired for 2 years and he became everything that sports should not be. Pippen quit on his teammates in Chicago during the play-offs while MJ was retired. Pippen quit on his teammates in Houston and was a major problem child that accomplished nothing. Pippen was a constant soap opera in Portland. Any time things were not just perfect for him he whined and complained to the media about his teammates and coach. When I give my son an example of how not to act as an athlete Pippen is the example I give, he is a quitter, extremely poor sport and definitely not a team player. The Bulls would have been a lot better with Mourning teamed with Jordan instead of Pippen. There is no doubt that you could have put any number of Small Forwards with Jordan and the Bulls would have still had 6 rings. Pippen is everything that team sports is not suppose to be and he has no place in the Hall of Fame. Period. Mourning has been the number 1 player on a team that was a perennial play-off team and a team that played for the Eastern Conference Championship. Pippen can not say that, at best he was an adequate role player for Jordan.
Mourning has a great career but to say that he deserves the hall of fame over Pippen is just blind hatred and homerism.
To discount Pippens actions when he was not with MJ is just as blind. Besides if you think Pippen was the driving force on any of those teams then you were not watching. Pippen rode MJ's caot tails for years and has done zip on his own. If you were starting a team from scratch and you had your choice of Pippen in his prime or Mourning in his prime as a first pick who whould you choose? That questin is a no brainer. You would choose Mourning every single time.
BTW, I am not a Mourning homer. Pippen has quite on every single team he has ever been apart of at one time or another. Regardless of Mourningl, Pippen does not deserve the Hall of Fame.
No, he does not deserve to be in the HOF, he was a very good player but does Hall of Famer Alonzo Morning sound right? No.
Though a great player, Mourning's had some very average accomplishments on the NBA level... If Mourning gets in, Deke should get in.
I'd vote Pippen into the hall of fame. Seriously, the hatred some Rockets fans have for Pippen is kind of suprising, actually. He played one season for us and had a pretty good year, and he was the lone reason the Rockets won that one playoff game against the Lakers. Pippen averaged 20, 6, and 6 on two teams with Micheal Jordan that had 72 and 69 wins. He was one of the most durable players in the NBA until his 11th season and he could defend multiple players on the court. People act like he was a 12th man on those Bulls teams, when he was actually an integral part of six championships. Jordan would have won NOTHING without Pippen. He was definitely more than a role player
Career numbers 20 ppg 9.7 rpg 1.4 apg 2.98 bpg Never made an all NBA first team Never played in the finals. Good player, but hardly HOF material.
Please read the title of the thread, it says: MOURNING: A hall of Famer? NOT Pippen: A Hall of Famer. Personally, Pippen deserves to be in. I don't care for him as a player but he has accomplished alot.
