50 Active Potential Basketball Hall of Famers

Our Basketball Hall of Fame Monitor for Basketball looks at the following criteria:

The most significant factor is how each active player measures up to the last five players chosen at their primary positions.  Specifically, we focus only on players who were voted through conventional means and not through any particular committee.  This means that no Direct-Elect Committee Inductees will be part of the comparisons.  The Direct-Elect categories are Contributors, Early African-American Pioneers, International, and Veterans.  Please note that we are currently not ranking women, but we plan to make a separate list in the future.  

We look at the same traditional and advanced metrics for every position and rank them overall and by their primary position. The five positions are Point Guards, Shooting Guards, Small Forwards, Power Forwards, and Centers.

The metrics we look at can be categorized into five groups:

The first group is Games Played/Awards.

In this group, we look at:

Games Played:  An obvious metric, and we may consider adding Games Started and Minutes Played.

All-NBA: Bluntly, this is one of our favorite metrics, as an All-NBA spot educates us as to whether you are a top-15 player of the year.  This one is weighted on our metrics with 3 Points awarded to a First-Team selection, 2 Points awarded to a Second-Team selection, and 1 Point awarded to a Third-Team selection.

All-Stars:  Making the All-Star Game is the perfect way to say that you are among the best in the world.

MVP: MVPs are essential for a Hall of Fame induction, and as of this writing, every MVP has made the Hall.  Still, most of the Hall of Famers enter without the trophy, and most of those have MVP votes.  As such, this category does not reflect how many MVPs you have but how many top ten MVP finishes a player has.  Thus, 10 Points are awarded to a first-place finish, 9 Points are awarded to a second-place finish, 8 Points are awarded for a third-place finish, 7 Points are awarded for fourth, 6 Points are awarded for fifth, 5 Points are awarded for sixth, 4 Points are awarded for seventh, 3 Points are awarded for eighth, 2 Points are awarded for ninth and 1 Point for a tenth-place finish.

All-Defensive.  This is calculated like All-NBAs.  2 Points are awarded for a First Team Selection and 1 Point for a Second Team Selection.

Defensive Player of the Year.  Like the MVP, we are awarding this via Points based on top ten finishes.  Thus, 10 Points are awarded to a first-place finish, 9 Points are awarded to a second-place finish, 8 Points are awarded for a third-place finish, 7 Points are awarded for fourth, 6 Points are awarded for fifth, 5 Points are awarded for sixth, 4 Points are awarded for seventh, 3 Points are awarded for eighth, 2 Points are awarded for ninth and 1 Point for a tenth-place finish.

The second group is traditional stats per game.

This is as easy as it sounds, and again, you will see the baseline averages vary by position.

We focus on the big five: Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, and Blocks.

The third group is traditional stats over a career.

We keep focus on the big five: Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, and Blocks.  In future years, with traditional statistics, we might add Field Goal Percentage, 3-Point Percentage, and Free Throw Percentage.

The fourth group is advanced statistics.

This will showcase PER, Win Shares, and VORP over each player’s career.

The fifth group is the Peak Period over traditional and advanced statistics.

Inspired by Jay Jaffe’s JAWS statistic that looks at the best seven-year stretch of a baseball player according to bWAR, we are doing the same with current basketball players over the same time frame.  Specifically, this will cover all the stats covered through groups two through four.  This is an excellent way to determine how each player’s peak compares to the Hall of Famers, which recently paved the way for them.

The baseline Hall of Fame players in each group are:

Point Guards:  Chauncey Billups (Class of 2024), Peak Period 2004-05 to 2010-11.  Tony Parker (Class of 2023), Peak Period 2006-007 to 2012-13.  Steve Nash (Class of 2018), Peak Period 2004-05 to 2010-11.  Jason Kidd (Class of 2018), Peak Period 1997-98 to 2003-04.  Gary Payton (Class of 2013), Peak Period 1993-94 to 1999-2000.

Shooting Guards:  Vince Carter (Class of 2018), Peak Period 1999-2000 to 2005-06.  Dwyane Wade (Class of 2023), Peak Period 2004-05 to 2010-11.  Manu Ginobili (Class of 2023), Peak Period 2004-05 to 2010-11.  Kobe Bryant (Class of 2020) Peak Period 2005-06 to 2011-12.  Ray Allen (Class of 2018) Peak Period 2002-03 to 2008-09.

Small Forwards:  Paul Pierce (Class of 2021), Peak Period 2004-05 to 2010-11.  Grant Hill (Class of 2018), Peak Period 1994-95 to 2000-01.  Tracy McGrady (Class of 2018), Peak Period 2000-01 to 2006-07.  Chris Mullin (Class of 2011), Peak Period 1987-88 to 1993-94.  Scottie Pippen (Class of 2010), Peak Period 1991-92 to 1997-98.

Power Forwards:  Dirk Nowitzki (Class of 2023), Peak Period 2004-05 to 2010-11.  Chris Webber (Class of 2021), 1996-97 to 2002-03.  Tim Duncan (Class of 2020), Peak Period 1999-2000 to 2005-06.  Kevin Garnett (Class of 2020), Peak Period 1999-2000 to 2005-06.  Dennis Rodman (Class of 2011), Peak Period 1988-89 to 1994-95.

Centers:  Pau Gasol (Class of 2023), Peak Period 2008-09 to 2014-15.  Chris Bosh (Class of 2021), Peak Period 2005-06 to 2011-12.  Ben Wallace (Class of 2021), Peak Period 2000-01 to 2006-07.  Shaquille O’Neal (Class of 2016), Peak Period 1994-95 to 2000-01.  Yao Ming (Class of 2016), Peak Period 2002-03 to 2008-09.

The drop-down menu for each positional page provides more information on each position and why these Hall of Famers were selected.