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Chris Mullin has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hall announced on Monday. Mullin starred for the Golden State Warriors for 12 seasons after an illustrious collegiate career at St. John's. Mullin currently ranks No. 63 on the NBA's career scoring list, and made five All-NBA teams and five All-Star Games with Golden State.
Mullin finished his career No. 4 on the Warriors' all-time scoring list, behind only Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry and Paul Arizin -- all of whom are in the Hall of Fame, as is No. 5 Nate Thurmond. But given that Mullin was more or less a scorer only, and one not as prolific as a player like Barry, Mullin's induction to the Hall was never a given, and he likely wouldn't have made it without his great St. John's career.
Earlier this year, Mullin was voted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Dennis Rodman, the greatest rebounder in NBA history and one of the league's best defenders for a decade, will enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The Hall, which recognizes players, coaches and executives for their contributions to collegiate, professional and international basketball, announced its 2011 class on Monday at the Final Four in Houston. Rodman, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA (most with the Detroit Pistons), led the class.
Rodman won five NBA championships, two with the Pistons and three with the Chicago Bulls after Michael Jordan's first retirement and comeback. Rodman was an incredible rebounder -- the best ever -- and a post defender of great repute. Rodman won seven rebounding titles -- notable during the era of Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson -- and currently has the No. 1 total rebounding percentage of all-time.
Since his retirement in 2000 following tough stints with the Lakers and Mavericks, Rodman has become more well-known for his bizarre personality and antics. To be fair, he was well-known for those aspects of his character during his Bulls' career, too; absent basketball, Rodman The Wild Child took over full bore.
Tex Winter, the architect of the Triangle offense and a longtime assistant coach and consultant for the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hall announced on Monday. Winter joins Dennis Rodman, Chris Mullin and others in the Hall's 2011 class.
Winter was a head coach for several college programs, and spent two seasons at the head coach of the Houston Rockets. But his biggest mark in basketball came as an assistant with the Bulls, where he taught Michael Jordan and eventually Phil Jackson the Triangle. The Bulls went on to win six NBA championships using the offense; Winter joined Jackson in L.A. as an assistant for the Lakers' three-peat, giving the coach nine championships on the bench. Winter was a consultant for the Lakers' 2008-09 title. The Lakers used the Triangle in their repeat championship last season, and head into the 2011 NBA Playoffs a top title favorite again.
Jerry Krause hired Winter to join the Bulls' staff in 1985, four years before Jackson came to the franchise.
Dennis Rodman has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to reports. Rodman had his jersey retired by the Detroit Pistons on Friday, and Rodman told the assembled media that he'd been told to be in Houston on Monday for the announcement of the Hall of Fame's 2011 class ahead of the NCAA Div. 1 National Championship Game.
The class will be presented at 12 p.m. ET. NBA TV will broadcast the announcement live. Other NBA finalists include Sixers point guard Maurice Cheeks, Warriors gunner Chris Mullin, Warriors legend Al Attles and Tex Winter, the architect of the Triangle offense. Longtime Stanford women's coach Tara VanDerveer is a likely inductee. Jamaal Wilkes, Teresa Edwards, Herb Magee, Dick Motta, Hank Nichols and Ralph Sampson are the other finalists up for induction.
To be inducted, finalists must receive votes from 18 of the 24 members of the induction committee. The membership of the voting body is kept secret to avoid lobbying; the system has come under a fair amount of scrutiny over the years, especially as the NBA ranks are relatively thin compared to college and international admissions. Reggie Miller, for example, was eligible but not voted as finalist for this class, drawing the ire of many NBA personalities and writers.
Defender extraordinaire Dennis Rodman and sharpshooter Chris Mullin headline the list of finalists for the 2011 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction class. The list of finalists is, however, most noticeable for its lack of Pacers legend Reggie Miller, who did not get the seven of nine votes from the Hall's North American committee necessary to become a finalist.
Don Nelson, the all-time leader in wins as an NBA head coach and a pioneer in many aspects of the game, failed to make the finalists' ballot, too. In his place, Al Attles, Tex Winter, Dick Motta, Maurice Cheeks, Herb Magee, Hank Nichols, Ralph Sampson and Jamaal Wilkes will be up for induction. Two women -- Tara VanDerveer and Teresa Edwards -- are also finalists. Maurice Lucas was also among the snubs.
Successful inductees will be announced during the Final Four in April. The induction will occur in August.
The question of whether Pacers legend Reggie Miller will be a first-ballot inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is now moot, because both the New York Times and Yahoo! Sports report that Miller has failed to earn enough votes to even be a finalist for induction. The Hall of Fame will announce the finalists for the 2011 class Friday afternoon in Los Angeles as NBA All-Star Weekend kicks off. Miller is eligible for the first time this year, and was expected to be a sure thing given the otherwise lackluster class up for induction.
That class includes Mark Jackson, Dennis Rodman, Bernard King, Maurice Lucas, Chris Mullin, Don Nelson, Maurice Cheeks and Dick Bavetta. Most of those personalities have missed the cut on prior ballots.
As the Times' Jonathan Abrams details, the nine members of the North America panel of the Hall of Fame voting pool -- seven of whom must agree to make an North American-based man a finalist -- are completely anonymous, and the entire Hall of Fame process is shrouded in complete secrecy.
The Basketball Hall of Fame typically avoids controversy because of the sheer number of players inducted. Some players, like Celtics and Sonics legend Dennis Johnson, end up waiting for years for induction, but the Naismith Hall lacks of lightning-bolt criticism of its NFL or baseball brothers.
Artis Gilmore, Tara VanDerveer Round Out Basketball Hall Of Fame's 2011 Class
Ten basketball players and coaches were elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for 2011 induction. Dennis Rodman, one of the best rebounders and defenders of all-time and a five-time NBA champion with the Pistons and Bulls, made the Hall, as did Tex Winter, who created the Triangle offense and won nine NBA championships as an assistant coach with the Bulls and Lakers.
Here are the other players and coaches elected to the Hall:
Apr 05 7:27a by Tom Ziller - 0 comments