The 10 Biggest Basketball Hall of Fame Snubs

Baseball fans love to debate about which players deserve to be in Cooperstown, while comparing statistics and relative worth within the players respective eras.

However, as a basketball fan there are snubs that are just as debatable as those of Roger Maris or Bert Blyleven.

While no basketball fan can argue with the five inductees for the class of 2009 (Jordan, Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, and C. Vivian Stringer) there are players and coaches who are well deserving of a place in Springfield who have been overlooked.

The following ten individuals are among those who deserve their own plaque in the Hall of Fame.

Hank Gathers

Year of Eligibility: 1996

Why He's Not in the Hall: He never played in the NBA and his numbers are viewed to be inflated because of the system he played in.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: Pete Maravich for example always played in systems where he took 25-30 shots a game.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: Simply put, Gathers is punished by Hall of Fame voters because he died.

During his college career, Gathers averaged 33 points and 14 rebounds a game, and led the nation in both scoring and rebounding his senior season.

He also ranks ninth all time in NCAA Division-1 scoring, and along with teammate Bo Kimble, carried little known Loyola Marymount to national prominence.

Sadly the longer time passes, the more people will forget the greatness of Hank Gathers.

Artis Gilmore

Year of Eligibility: 1996

Why He's Not in the Hall: The NBA doesn't count ABA statistics which hurts Gilmore.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: Fellow ABA stars Connie Hawkins, Dan Issel, and George Gervin are enshrined.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: Quite frankly I have no clue why Artis Gilmore is not in the Hall of Fame.

If you add his ABA numbers to his professional totals you will find that Gilmore ranks 14th in both points (ahead of Barkley, Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, and Bob Petit), and rebounds per game (ahead of Barkley, Kareem, Shaq, and Olajuwon).

Darrell Griffith

Year of Eligibility: 1996

Why He's Not in the Hall: A good but not great NBA career.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: His NBA numbers are better than Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: First and foremost his college career where he was a two time All-American, National Champion, and scored over 2300 points in his college career.

His NBA numbers were also solid averaging a career 16 points a game and shot 46% from the field on a team where he was always the second scoring option behind Adrian Dantley and later Karl Malone.

Joe B. Hall

Year of Eligibility: 1990

Why He's Not in the Hall: He had the misfortune of following Adolph Rupp at Kentucky.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: His coaching record is better than those of John Chaney, Norm Stewart, Pete Carrill, and Louie Carnasecca

Why He Should Be in the Hall: Coach Hall won over 70% of his games, took the Wildcats to three Final Fours, and won a National Championship in his 13 year career.

While his accomplishments would make him elite at almost any other school in the nation, when compared to Adolph Rupp and Rick Pitino he is viewed as inferior.

If you take Hall's numbers and accomplishments out of the context of Kentucky Basketball they are certainly Hall of Fame worthy.

Dennis Johnson

Year of Eligibility: 1995

Why He's Not in the Hall: He did not have elite statistical numbers.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: While Johnson didn't have gaudy statistics, he was the embodiment of a team player.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: The question with a player like D.J is how do you quantify things like defensive intensity, clutch play, and being the ultimate teammate?

Possibly the best on-ball defender in the game during his era, Johnson was a five time All-Star despite averaging only 14 points and 5 rebounds over his career.

When comparing his numbers with his honors, you have to realize there are things DJ brought to the table that couldn't be measured on a stat sheet.

Bernard King

Year of Eligibility: 1996

Why He's Not in the Hall: His accomplishments are viewed as a product of an era in the NBA of trigger happy small forwards.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: Similar players of that era that fit the same description like Alex English, Adrian Dantley, and Dominique Wilkins are in the Hall of Fame.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: Like Artis Gilmore, there is no reason why Bernard King should not be in the Hall of Fame.

After an excellent college career at Tennessee, King proved himself to be one of the best small forwards in the game during the pre-Jordan era.

King averaged 22.5 points per game for his career, and ranks 31st all time on the NBA scoring list, with only two players ranking higher on the list that played fewer games than King (Bob Pettit and Kobe Bryant).

Rebecca Lobo

Year of Eligibility: 2008

Why She's Not in the Hall: The Hall of Fame usually only inducts one woman ever year,

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: Regardless of the unofficial "token woman" clause, how do you not enshrine one of the 20 best women's players of all-time?

Why She Should Be in the Hall: Lobo was the first major cog in coach Geno Auriemma's women's basketball dynasty at UConn.

Averaging 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks a game for the Huskies, Lobo was a two time All-American and National Player of the Year.

She also won an Olympic gold metal in 1996, but had her WNBA career cut short with a serious knee injury.

Don Nelson

Year of Eligibility: 2001

Why He's Not in the Hall: He never won a NBA Championship.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: There are dozens of coaches in the Hall of Fame who never won a championship either.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: Nellie is the second winningest coach in professional basketball history and should be first on that list if he coaches next season.

He is also a three time NBA Coach of the Year and has a winning percentage of nearly 57%, while never having the privilege of coaching a team with elite talent.

Of the NBA's ten winningest coaches of all time, Nelson is the only one not in the Hall of Fame.

Frank Selvy

Year of Eligibility: 1968

Why He's Not in the Hall: He was not an outstanding college player.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: His college performance alone should be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: Selvy was a career role player in the NBA, most notably as the sixth man on the great Lakers teams of Baylor and West.

However, as a college player he was a scorer in the same vein as Maravich or Gathers averaging 41.7 points per game his senior season and at one time holding 24 NCAA records.

Of course Selvy is most notable for being the only player to score 100 points in a NCAA Division 1 game, however he also was a two time All-American.

Jerry Tarkanian

Year of Eligibility: 1993

Why He's Not in the Hall: His constant run-in's with the NCAA, and questionable recruiting practices.

Why the Logic Doesn't Hold: Sure he was a cheat, but so was Adolph Rupp and even (possibly unknowingly) John Wooden, but nobody denies their place in the Hall of Fame.

Why He Should Be in the Hall: Simply put, if Adolph Rupp deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, so does Jerry Tarkanian.

When we look simply at coaching and accomplishments, few coaches have a record that matches up with Tarkanian's.

778 wins, an .801 winning percentage, four Final Four appearances, and a National Championship would be elite by any measure easily putting Tark into the elite circle of coaches.

However, because of his constant run-in's with the NCAA (for which the NCAA settled with Tarkanian out of court for $2.2 million when sued for harassment) Tark will probably never make it to Springfield.