Tracy McGrady and Ben Wallace have been nominated for the first time for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A wide-open field with no sure bets gives both players a decent chance of making it to Springfield.
Seven-time All-Star McGrady was a two-time scoring champion and a member of seven All-NBA teams, including twice on the first team.
(McGrady found out about the nomination on the ESPN basketball program, "The Jump," where host Rachel Nichols broke the news.)
Not every day you get to tell a friend he's been nominated for the Hall of Fame.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) December 21, 2016
From #TheJump: This. Was. So. Cool.https://t.co/SAAQeT2AMw
Wallace, a four-time All-Star, was a four-time Defensive Player of the Year. He also led the league in rebounding and blocks, but his biggest accomplishment was in 2004, as part of the nucleus that steered the Detroit Pistons to the NBA championship.
Between the two, Wallace has a stronger case because of that one championship and two Finals appearances.
As far as team accomplishments go, that'll be the knock on McGrady — the straight-from-high-school draftee was never a part of a title team in the pros or a major international championship for the U.S. men's team.
Still, going by advanced analytics, McGrady should feel good about his odds.
Besides McGrady and Wallace, there are other players eligible for induction next year. Let's see how their chances stack up:
Chris Webber
The five-time All-Star was often mentioned in the same breath as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett as the best power forwards in the game. He was the leader of a Sacramento Kings team in the early 2000s that won consistently, playing a free-flowing offense, and nearly supplanted the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs as the league's best team.
But Webber couldn't win the big one and even though he had a stellar college career in Michigan, his accomplishments there officially count for nothing after their wins in 1992 and 1993 — the years Webber led the Wolverines to the NCAA finals — were vacated because of league violations.
Odds: The college part might still be too fresh in the minds of the voters, so he could miss out.
With Golden State, he was the engine that ran one of the most exciting offenses in the pre-hand check rule era. When he moved to Miami, the Heat were perennial title contenders that couldn't get past Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.
Hardaway is a five-time All-Star and has an Olympic gold to boot. His point guard stats (assists and steals) are good enough, too, to merit consideration to the Hall.
Odds: Former Warriors teammate Mitch Richmond made it to the Hall playing for more mediocre teams. Hardaway should make it.
Kevin Johnson
In a discussion of "who would you rather have on your team," Johnson and Hardaway present a head-scratcher. While Hardaway spent most of his time East against Jordan's Bulls, Johnson made a name for himself playing alongside Charles Barkley on the Phoenix Suns.
Johnson stood 6-foot-1, but he was a fearless scorer who could dunk with the best of them. (Sorry, Hakeem.) At his peak, his Suns were always in the championship conversation. If injuries didn't mar his career, his numbers would've been higher in the all-time lists. He went to the Finals once (losing to the Bulls in 1993) and won the FIBA World championship in 1994.
Odds: There are older names in this class whose induction are long overdue. "KJ" deserves to be in the Hall, but he may not enter this year.
Sidney Moncrief
Basketball fans would have to Google his name to find out who Moncrief is and what he did in his prime. He was a five-time All-Star and five-time member of the All-NBA team, all while leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the upper echelon of the East in the 1980s, just below Larry Bird's Boston Celtics and Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers.
His calling card was his defense and, when he was healthy, Moncrief was the Bucks' top scorer. But a variety of injuries cut his career short and he never got over the Celtics-76ers hump.
Odds: A lack of games and no Finals appearances don't help his case, but what he was able to achieve when he was in good shape should be enough to get him into the Hall.
Jack Sikma
Like many on this list, Sikma's career embodies the dilemma voters face picking their Hall choices. His numbers aren't Springfield-worthy, but he peaked in an era of iconic big men. He won an NBA title, but it was at a time when the league's talent pool was shallow.
Odds: He's apparently the only seven-time All-Star who isn't a Hall of Famer, so there could be a sympathy vote there.
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