Is Iggy a Hall of Famer?
Bill Simmons is wrong.
Several times in the last several months, Bill Simmons on his podcast has said he believes Andre Iguodala will someday be in basketball’s Hall of Fame. Simmons doesn’t necessarily believe Iggy should be in, but that he will based on previous questionable selections.
Simmons is wrong, because the most reliable statistics to determine if an NBA player is in the Hall of Fame is how he was perceived at the time he was playing.
Simmons often brings up Mitch Richmond as an example.
So, let’s compare:
- All-Star Games (for what they’re worth): Richmond 6, Iggy 1
- All-NBA teams: Richmond 5, Iggy 0
To be fair, let’s include extras:
- All-Defensive Team: Richmond: 0, Iggy, 2
- Finals MVP: Richmond 0, Iggy 1
- Rookie of the Year: Richmond yes, Iggy no
Richmond is tied for 50th in most All-NBA appearances. That may make him a questionable Hall of Fame selection. Then again Reggie Miller made just three All-NBA appearances, and no one questions whether he belongs in the Hall.
The fact is, for five straight seasons Richmond was recognized as one of the six best guards in the NBA, and from a shooting guard perspective was probably second only to Michael Jordan in that era. Iggy was never acknowledged as one of the top six at his position at any time.
The compilers of Basketball Reference may have their biases, but if Iggy retired today his chances of going to the Hall stands at 6.1%; when Richmond retired his was at 70%.
I understand that the Basketball Hall of Fame isn’t just the NBA Hall of Fame; it includes women’s basketball, players who expanded the sport globally, and history-making teams and players. We all understand that Bill Walton isn’t an NBA Hall of Famer for one MVP and leading one team to a championship in an otherwise injury-plagued career, but leading UCLA to an 88-game winning streak is on his resume and that’s why he’s in the Hall. Neither Richmond nor Iggy did anything outside the NBA that would set them apart.
In 2014, Simmons made a case that other players are more deserving than Richmond (they’ve since been inducted). That may be true. It’s also probably true that he could have fit in nicely as a sixth-man, but that wouldn’t have put him in the Hall of Fame.
Had Iggy been a starter on the Warriors teams, like Klay Thompson (2-time All-NBA), his chances of making the Hall of Fame would improve. But he wasn’t a starter for a reason.
Unlike Klay, it’s hard to come up with a reason to put him in.
