http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6289323

Good for him. Clears the way for such greats as Bruce Bowen, Ben Wallace, Tree Rollins and Manute Bol.

Why the f*%# is a guy who was a career PPG scorer of 7ppg getting into the HOF? Great rebounder? Yes. Great defender? Sometimes. Great player? Not really.

BTW his high school coach was Gary Blair, if I'm not mistaken.

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Great defender? Sometimes

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he was a two time DPOY
7x all nba defensive first team
2x All nba 3rd teams
7x rebounding champion
5 rings

he could guard forwards, centers, and guards. he averaged 11+rpg for 10 straight years. he averaged 5 offensive rebounds per game for his career. he grabbed 34 rebounds in a game (3rd all time). he has 11 offensive rebounds in an NBA finals (all-time record).

he deserves to be there.

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 4/4/2011 3:54p).]

When you're one of the five best, possibly the best, in the history of professional basketball at one of the three major statistical categories, you're going into the Hall of Fame. Add in the fact that he was an elite defender and multiple-time NBA champion? Come on, man. Easy decision.

[This message has been edited by Head Ninja In Charge (edited 4/4/2011 3:58p).]

cant tell if Mass is joking or dumb

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When you're one of the five best, possibly the best, in the history of professional basketball at one of the three major statistical categories, you're going into the Hall of Fame.

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Have to agree with Barkley here. If all Chuckster ever did was stand under the basket waiting for rebounds, he'd get as many if not more than Rodman. Rodman was a great rebounder, but that's all he was ever asked to do on the offensive end of the court. Other teams usually didn't even put a body on him until the ball went in the air.

As far as the rings go, Stever Kerr has more than Rodman, and is the GREATEST 3-pt shooter of all time in terms of accuracy. If Kerr doesn't get in I'll consider it a travesty.

The basketball HOF is very easy to get into, so this doesn't surprise me. But Rodman's "contributions" to the game of basketball are being overstated, to say the least.

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Have to agree with Barkley here.

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Please.

1. If we could make a list of things Charles Barkley has said that would warrant dispute, we'd be here all day. His skill and accomplishments on the court aside, Charles Barkley's basketball insights have about as much validity as any Joe Schmo walking in streets.

2. Saying all you have to do is stand and wait under the basket to get huge rebound numbers is the same thing as saying all you have do is be 7'0" and 300 pounds to dominate the paint. But any person who has played or watched enough basketball will tell you otherwise. There is a reason why Dennis Rodman and Shaquille O'Neal are who they are and there is a reason why Chuck Hayes (no disrespect, Chuck) and Eddy Curry are who they are.

should have to be more than a "rebounding specialist" to get in the Hall

Rodman should make it in for his wild hair coloring alone.

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There is a reason why Dennis Rodman and Shaquille O'Neal are who they are and there is a reason why Chuck Hayes (no disrespect, Chuck) and Eddy Curry are who they are.

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And of the 4 of them, Dennis Rodman is the only one who never participated on the offensive end of the floor other than to box out and wait for the ball to bounce towards him.

Rodman's LOAN RESPONSIBILITY by the mid-90's was to set picks and wait for rebounds. For the life of me I cannot think of another single NBA player who's offensive responsibilities were so simple, or who was so completely uninvolved in offensive sets.

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Rodman's LOAN RESPONSIBILITY by the mid-90's was to set picks and wait for rebounds. For the life of me I cannot think of another single NBA player who's offensive responsibilities were so simple, or who was so completely uninvolved in offensive sets.

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He found a niche and was the best ever at it. Can't imagine someone devaluing a rebounder who was so insanely dominant.

Rodman is a well-deserved Hall of Famer.

We can all name a dozen HoF players who were unbelievable scorers, but they did NOTHING on defensive end. What's the difference?

it's LONE, not loan

Mass must love those 140-138 games.

If rebounding was so simple, why don't more "poor" players focus on just that and become HOFers? And to say he was "sometimes" a great defender is laughable.

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He found a niche and was the best ever at it.

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First, no he wasn't. It doesn't matter how you spin the numbers, Rodman was not the best rebounder ever.
But lets pretend that he was, and that filling a "niche" gets you in. That means that Steve Kerr (3-pt %) and Alvin Robertson (steals/g) are HOF locks, right?

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We can all name a dozen HoF players who were unbelievable scorers, but they did NOTHING on defensive end. What's the difference?

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The difference is they actually PARTICIPATED on the defensive end. Playing poor offense and not playing offense at all are two different things. Rodman was hardly ever even guarded by anyone because everybody knew he wasn't going to shoot the ball. Nearly every single point he ever scored was on a put-back, and even on most gimme put-backs he opted to pull the ball down and reset the offense.

I just disagree folks. I don't think Dennis Rodman is HOF caliber. Hell I was having to make a case for Ray Allen a couple weeks ago, and now Dennis Rodman is a no-brainer?

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And to say he was "sometimes" a great defender is laughable.

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That he took games off cannot be disputed. Especially when he was asked to guard guys like Karl Malone and Hakeem later in his career.

if mr regular season (warren moon - the great fumblini) can get into a sports hall of fame, rodman doing so isn't that out there

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That means that Steve Kerr (3-pt %) and Alvin Robertson (steals/g) are HOF locks, right?

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Were they ever Defensive Player of the Year? Were they ever All-Stars? I don't agree that Rodman found a "niche". He was a great defender and a great rebounder. So he wasn't a scorer. He definitely did enough to warrant inclusion in the HOF.

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Were they ever All-Stars?

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Dennis Rodman making the all-star team was a joke. The only reason he made the 1990 team was that Brad Daugherty was injured. His 18 rpg in 1992 were deserving, but only because the east didn't have a lot of big name F/C at the time.

Lets not act like making a couple all-star games means you are a HOF caliber player.

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First, no he wasn't. It doesn't matter how you spin the numbers, Rodman was not the best rebounder ever.
But lets pretend that he was, and that filling a "niche" gets you in. That means that Steve Kerr (3-pt %) and Alvin Robertson (steals/g) are HOF locks, right?

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In my opinion Rodman is the best rebounder ever. Sure Wilt pulled down like 90 rebs/g in a completely different era. There's no clear definition based on just statistics, but I do know he's definitely the best rebounder of the current era.

Trying to compare someone who lead the NBA in rebounding (one of the top 3 major statistics) for 7 consecutive seasons (an NBA record) to the 3pt % leader or the steal/g leader is absolutely laughable, but you already knew that.

Let's not forget the 2x DPOY honors.

why is john stockton in the hall of fame? all he ever did was have a bunch of assits?

same argument could be used for rodman..

Except Stockton is the all time leader in assists and steals and was the facilitator for his offense for 19 years...so....yea exactly.

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Trying to compare someone who lead the NBA in rebounding (one of the top 3 major statistics) for 7 consecutive seasons (an NBA record) to the 3pt % leader or the steal/g leader is absolutely laughable, but you already knew that.

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The problem is that people want to use arbitrary stats to make HOF cases. Just because you say rebounding is more important than outside shooting or steals doesn't make it so. Especially when you are stealing the ball at a 2.7 per game clip like Robertson was. YOUR standard, as first stated, was:

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He found a niche and was the best ever at it.

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By definition, a 3-point shooting specialist is a niche. There are a lot of these. Steve Kerr. BJ Armstrong. John Paxson. Dale Ellis. Eddie House. Daniel Gibson. The list is very, very long.

Name another rebounding specialist.

The reason you can't is that Rodman is probably the only player in the history of the game whose ENTIRE offensive responsibility was to roam around waiting for rebounds. His "niche" was "don't shoot even if it is to save your life, and pull down as many rebounds as you possibly can".

And my final point is this: if you ever saw the way Rodman "finished" a fast break you know he shouldn't be in the HOF. If you ever heard the reaction of shock from the announcers at the sight of a made 7-foot basket by Rodman, you know he shouldn't be in the HOF. If you ever watched one of the COUNTLESS TIMES Rodman quit on his team in big games, you know he doesn't belong in the HOF.

To kind of put things in perspective, Rodman is 22nd among all time leaders in rebounding. This alone wouldn't merit an induction, but it's hard to argue against a top 25 rebounder who has 5 championships. Plus you have to consider there are many less worthy inductees in the HOF such as women.

[This message has been edited by ItalAggie (edited 4/5/2011 1:59p).]

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The problem is that people want to use arbitrary stats to make HOF cases. Just because you say rebounding is more important than outside shooting or steals doesn't make it so. Especially when you are stealing the ball at a 2.7 per game clip like Robertson was.

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You're right, there's no exact way to quantify one stat vs another. It sounds like you're firmly rooted in your opinion that all "arbitrary" stats are the same. I think that's incredibly short-sighted: it completely ignores the context. The context being 13.1 rebounds/game, 5 offensive, an NBA record 7 consecutive rebounding titles. Just as you are, I'm firmly entrenched in the idea that 2.7 steals/game or .454 career 3pt% won't have anywhere near the impact those kind of rebounding numbers have. Again completely ignoring that he was DPOY twice.

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By definition, a 3-point shooting specialist is a niche. There are a lot of these. Steve Kerr. BJ Armstrong. John Paxson. Dale Ellis. Eddie House. Daniel Gibson. The list is very, very long.

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"Niche" was probably the wrong word. More like "specialty", meaning a defensive/rebounding specialist (again referencing 2x DPOY). I'm sure you can think of plenty of those.

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The reason you can't is that Rodman is probably the only player in the history of the game whose ENTIRE offensive responsibility was to roam around waiting for rebounds. His "niche" was "don't shoot even if it is to save your life, and pull down as many rebounds as you possibly can".

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He averaged 7 PPG for his entire career. His low scoring output isn't as dramatic as you make it out to be.

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He averaged 7 PPG for his entire career. His low scoring output isn't as dramatic as you make it out to be.

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I'd like you to find me one single other player in the history of the NBA that played 2800+ minutes in a single season and averaged LESS than 5 ppg during that same season. Rodman did it TWICE. That is freakin-A AMAZING for a guy that's pulling down 15+ rebounds per game and 5+ offensive rebounds. You're telling me there weren't more than 2 put-back opportunities per game on those rebounds?

On the contrary, I'd say he probably has one of the lowest pt/min productivities in the entire history of basketball, if not only among hall-of-famers.

Mark Eaton and Tree Rollins were more productive at the offensive end. Luc Longley was an offensive juggernaut by comparison. I'm seriously trying to find another player that has ever done that (2800+ minutes, <5 points), and have so far come up blank.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 4/5/2011 3:06p).]

I'm fine with Rodman being in there. This is just the Basketball Hall of Fame, and isn't at the same level of prestige as the Pro Football or Baseball HOF.

Here is the class, besides Rodman: Chris Mullen, Tara VanDerveer, coaches Tex Winter, and Philadelphia University's Herb Magee; longtime NBA and ABA star Artis Gilmore; former Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis; Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards; Harlem Globetrotter Reece "Goose" Tatum; and Boston Celtic Tom "Satch" Sanders.

I did enjoy seeing Goose Tatum and the rest of the Globetrotters perform, and he's a great ambassador of the game, and if he's in, I'm fine with Rodman.

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I'd like you to find me one single other player in the history of the NBA that played 2800+ minutes in a single season and averaged LESS than 5 ppg during that same season.

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I thought you were against arbitrary statistics. He averaged 4.7 in both of those seasons by the way (one with SA, one with Chicago). It's not like he was trotting out a gentlemen's 1.4 ppg. I don't think anybody was missing those extra 3 points per game when he was dishing the ball to the GOAT off an offensive board.

[This message has been edited by Judge (edited 4/5/2011 3:29p).]

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5 rings

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Irrelevant

^Uh. Not if you're a starter who played more than 30 minutes a game.

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It's not like he was trotting out a gentlemen's 1.4 ppg.

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Having watched every single game he played as a Spur, let me tell you it certainly FELT LIKE 1.4 ppg. That jackass would get a rebound standing all alone next to the rim, have a clear unguarded path to the basket, but instead throw the ball to the top of the key to "reset" the offense.
He virtually NEVER took a shot, even when the ball found him unchecked 5 feet from the basket. And his "extra passes" near the basket almost never resulted in easy baskets because he's pass it to a double- or triple-teamed David Robinson rather than take an open layup himself.

And I am NOT being overly dramatic or exaggerating. That's the honest truth about his days as a Spur. As GREAT a rebounder he was, he was a abysmal offensive player. And he constantly quit in games when the team was down.

Hakeem had an unbelieveable series against the Spurs in '95, all credit to him. But few people remember the Spurs were still in that series in game 6, but for the fact that Rodman had already started quitting on the Spurs and blaming everyone else for the fact that Hakeem couldn't be guarded. What he brought to that '95 team in rebounding and defensive presence, he ABSOLUTELY took away in chemistry. I'm not saying the Spurs would have won with somebody else at PF, but I'd have much rather had Kevin Willis or Antoine Carr or some other non-HOF PF than Rodman.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 4/5/2011 4:25p).]

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Uh. Not if you're a starter who played more than 30 minutes a game.

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Actually it is irrelevant. If it wasn't, then Robert Horry would've been a first Ballot HOF'er w/ 6 rings. Get over the ring argument. Rodman rode the coattails of Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, then on Pippen and some guy named Jordan.

^Wrong. Rings are not irrelevant if you actually take time to consider the role the player had on the team. I'm a huge Robert Horry fan. But. He only started on two of those championship teams (Houston) and never played more than 30 minutes a game for any of his other championship teams. He was relegated to the bench after his sixth season (what should have been his prime years). He hit big shots, of course, but he was never the contributor that Rodman was.

There's a difference between Hakeem Olajuwon having two rings and Adam Morrison having two rings and you can't seriously be dumb enough to argue that. Unless you are?

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And I am NOT being overly dramatic or exaggerating. That's the honest truth about his days as a Spur. As GREAT a rebounder he was, he was a abysmal offensive player. And he constantly quit in games when the team was down.

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We agree that he was a terrible offensive player. All I'm really going to say about your first hand experience watching him is that the Hall is a career achievement. You might have followed him closely for those SA years but people a lot smarter than you or me when it comes to basketball made him a serious contributor and key component on multiple championship teams.