Basketball Hall of Fame: Who's In, Who's Out?

The NBA just announced it's 2008 Hall of Fame class.

Included were All-Star players Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Adrian Dantly.  Pat Riley, Bill Davidson, Cathy Rush, and Dick Vitale also are going to be inducted for their contributions off the court.

So what did these people do that warranted HOF honors?

Well...

Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem definitely deserves this induction.  Most people let you look at their stat line and say that that is why they deserve to get in.  But with Hakeem, you need to look at his awards.

NBA champion (1994, '95); NBA Finals MVP (1994, '95); NBA MVP (1994); Defensive Player of Year (1993, '94); All-NBA First Team (1987, '88, '89, '93, '94, '97); All-NBA Second Team ('86, '90, '96); All-NBA Third Team (1991, '95, '99); All-Defensive First Team ('87, '88, '90, '93, '94); 12-time All-Star; Olympic gold medalist (199); One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).

Just the pure length of that list means that he should get in, but when you read about the MVP, Defensive POY's, All NBA First, Second, or Third team every year from 1986-1999 (except '92 and '98).

Then you actually do take a look at the stat line. 21.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg, and 3.1 bpg.

Definitely HOF numbers.

Patrick Ewing

Just like Olajuwon, Ewing has an impressive resume of awards alone.

Rookie of Year (1985); All-NBA First Team (1990); All-NBA Second Team (1988, '89, '91, '92, '93, '97); All-Defensive Second Team (1988, '89, '92); 11-time NBA All-Star; One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996); Two-time Olympic gold medalist (1984, '92).

Not exactly as impressive as Hakeem's, but not exactly something that you wouldn't be proud of.  Add that to 21 ppg,  9.8 rpg, and 2.45 bpg, and you have a HOF career.

Although he never met the promise land of an NBA Championship (he lost in 1994 to Olajuwon's Rockets), he still had 17 years of great play, and he is getting rewarded for that time.

Adrian Dantley

Although Dantley doesn't have the resume that Ewing and Olajuwon have, he does have something that they don't, arguably the best shot in the game.

Dantley's .540 field-goal percentage is among the highest ever for a non-center.  When he retired, he was 9th on the career scoring list.

He also had plenty of awards.

All-NBA Second Team (1981, '84); NBA Rookie of the Year (1977); NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1984); NBA All-Star (1980, '81, '82, '84, '85, '86); Olympic gold medalist (1976).

He lured defenders by occasionally allowing a shot to be blocked, then faking the shot to trick the defender and get the open shot multiple times afterwards.

Averaging nearly 25 ppg through an entire career isn't chopped liver either.

Pat Riley

Riley is possibly one of the greatest coaches of all time.

He has won 5 NBA Championships, 3 Coach of the Year Awards, more games than all but 3 other coaches all time, and was named one of the 10 best coaches of all time by NBA.com.

He coaches like a combination of the way Cal Ripken and Michael Jordan played.  He sure did coach a lot of them, but he would leave, then come back, then leave, then come back.  Not to mention that he always found a way to win.

Bill Davidson

Davidson is the owner of the NBA's Detroit Pistons and WNBA's Detroit Shock.

He led the Pistons to 3 NBA Championships, along with 2 WNBA Championships with the Shock.

He is a very generous man, and doesn't let the Pistons or Shock go without state-of-the-art equipment.

Dick Vitale

Vitale is a great at color- commentary.  When I turn on college basketball game on ESPN, Vitale's voice is exactly what I want to hear.

When he missed time because of his throat, I felt like a part of me was missing.

Hearing his voice crack at the UNC-Duke game was a perfect time for me to remember that this guy isn't going to be around forever, although it seems like he has been.

Cathy Rush

Rush has been a tremendous women's coach for years.  Wait, just 6 years?  How can she be in the HOF!?!?!?!?!

Let me tell you how.

She went to the NAIAW Championship game 5 times, winning 3 times, all at Immaculata College in Pennsylvania.

In those 6 years, she won 91% of her games.

She also coached the 1975 Women's basketball team to a gold medal in the Pan America Games.

Well, those are the players, coaches, and figures that made it into the 2008 HOF Class.

I'm Joe W.