2004-05 Hall of Fame Nominations

[JNR]

NEW RULE: YOU WILL RECEIVE 1 POINT FOR NOMINATING SOMEONE FOR THE HALL OF FAME. IF THE PLAYER YOU NOMINATE GETS VOTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME, YOU GET ANOTHER POINT.

Welcome to the call for nominees to the People’s Basketball Sim League Hall of Fame. The rules are simple. Nominate a player you think deserves to be mentioned among the greatest players to play in this league. Championships, all-star appearances, funny picture blogs: all of these things could mean enough to warrant a nomination. Each GM is allowed one nomination. There’s only one requirement: the player has to be retired from the PBSL. There is no time restriction on retirement – as soon as a player retires, they are eligible for the HOF.

So what’s to stop you from just sending Slava Medvedenko to the Hall of Fame because you like his name? Well, first of all, he’s not retired yet, so you’re clearly not paying attention. But what else is going to stop you? I am.

I will review the nominations and put out a ballot of those we think qualify to be elected to the Hall. And then you vote on those players to see if they get enshrined.

-Nominees on the ballot with over 75% yes votes get into the HOF
-Nominees on the ballot with over 50% yes votes (but under 75%) are automatically considered for next year's ballot ("free" nomination that doesn't cost any owner a yearly nomination).

Nominations open now and will stay open until the end of the regular season. The ballot will be released after the first round of the playoffs. Reply to this post with your nomination.

Below are the most recent retirees who are available for nomination.

6/21/2004 Heat C Arvydas Sabonis retires
6/21/2004 Grizzlies SG Hubert Davis retires
6/21/2004 Knicks PG Derek Strong retires
6/21/2004 Timberwolves PF Stacey Augmon retires
6/21/2004 Knicks C Rony Seikaly retires
6/21/2004 Supersonics PF Dennis Scott retires
6/21/2004 Warriors C Hakeem Olajuwon retires

Here are the retirees from last season:

6/16/2003 Spurs C Ervin Johnson retires
6/16/2003 Jazz PG Greg Anthony retires
6/16/2003 Wizards SG Michael Jordan retires - *ELECTED TO HALL OF FAME*
6/16/2003 Lakers PG Mookie Blaylock retires

And finally the retirees from two seasons ago

6/17/2002 Magic PG Randy Brown retires
6/17/2002 Mavericks PG John Stockton retires
6/17/2002 Grizzlies PG Pooh Richardson retires
6/17/2002 Bulls PF Glen Rice retires
6/17/2002 Rockets SF Hersey Hawkins retires
6/17/2002 76ers C Patrick Ewing retires - *NOMINATED, DID NOT RECEIVE 50% OF VOTES*f
6/17/2002 Rockets PG Sherman Douglas retires
6/17/2002 Mavericks C Benoit Benjamin retires

Here are notable free agents who retired this past year:

Kevin Johnson
Derrick Coleman
Pervis Ellison
Tim Hardaway
Cliff Robinson
Chris Gatling
Larry Johnson

NEW RULE: YOU WILL RECEIVE 1 POINT FOR NOMINATING SOMEONE FOR THE HALL OF FAME. IF THE PLAYER YOU NOMINATE GETS VOTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME, YOU GET ANOTHER POINT.

[JNR]

WITH APPROVAL FROM DOUG, NEW RULE: YOU WILL RECEIVE 1 POINT FOR NOMINATING SOMEONE FOR THE HALL OF FAME. IF THE PLAYER YOU NOMINATE GETS VOTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME, YOU GET ANOTHER POINT.

[IamQuailman]

Claim Hakeem

[PaulyP]

I should probably do Augmon, I owe him all of my limited success in this league lol

[IamQuailman]

I should probably do Augmon, I owe him all of my limited success in this league lol

I was hoping you would claim him before someone else did! I think he's probably one of the best bets to make it!

[Conroy]

Ill try to get Tim Hardaway's up soon

[PaulyP]

I should probably do Augmon, I owe him all of my limited success in this league lol

I was hoping you would claim him before someone else did! I think he's probably one of the best bets to make it!

I was gonna sign him this offseason but the bastard retired

[IamQuailman]

Hakeem Olajuwon's Hall of Fame Nomination: "If you voted in Jordan, you gotta vote in me"

All jokes aside, there are a lot of parallels between Sim Jordan and Sim Olajuwon's careers post-creation draft. They both came into SLOE at the age of 28 years old. In their primes, they dominated the league at their respective positions for as long as they both could before the terrible truth that is TC (aka Father Time's Enforcer) made them his bitch. And as JNR eloquently stated in his Jordan nomination:

He started his SLOE career at 28, and we know that in this game that means he only had 3 years to make a real impact before declining steadily into nothing.

Rather than use that as evidence against his candidacy, I think we need to consider that something in his favor. He started SLOE in his prime with only a few years to prove what he could do.

And he WIGGING proved it.

In their primes, both were players trapped on teams that couldn't put the talent around them to win (or couldn't figure out how to win with the talent they had).

But let's look at the numbers for Hakeem's prime years.





In the inagural season, he was Top 5 in Points, Top 3 in Rebounds, Top 3 in Blocks. He maintained his Top 5 presence in each of these categories (fluctuating within the top 5 each year) for the following 2 seasons. His PER never sunk below 35.4 in 3 years, and his EWA basically shows that he almost singlehandedly gave Phoenix almost every one of their wins. In 1993 (age 31 AKA the cliff you fall off of), his scoring took a dip (still Top 11), as he joined the ranks of Gary Payton, Rex Chapman, and Jim Jackson in Miami, but his rebounding and blocks stayed top 5 in the league. In 1994, he stayed top 3 in rebounds and top 2 in blocks again. Even through the time when most players began to become shells of themselves, Hakeem continued to not only do what he did best, but he did it better than almost anyone else. In 1995 (age 33), his status in Rebounding dropped to 11th in league leaders, he was just outside of top 25 in scorers, and his blocks slipped to 4th in the league.

So let's look at the accollades that he collected through those years.

1990 PBSL All-Star
1990 PBSL All-League Second Team
1990 PBSL Defensive Player of the Year
1990 PBSL All-Defensive First Team
1991 PBSL All-Star
1991 PBSL All-League Second Team
1991 PBSL All-Defensive Second Team
1992 PBSL All-Star
1992 PBSL All-League First Team
1992 PBSL Defensive Player of the Year
1992 PBSL All-Defensive First Team
1993 PBSL All-Defensive First Team
1994 PBSL All-Star
1994 PBSL All-Defensive Second Team
1995 PBSL All-Star
1995 PBSL All-League Third Team

For those at home, thats:

Total All-Star Appearances: 5
Total All-League First Team: 1
Total All-League Second Team: 2
Total All-League Third Team: 1
Total All-Defensive First Team: 3
Total All-Defensive Second Team: 2
Total Defensive Player of the Year: 2

Then came 1996. This was the pivotal year in Hakeem's career. His numbers started to take a hit more, as age was finally catching up with him. It was a changing of the guard with young talent like Shawn Bradley, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'neal, and the inhuman Shawn Kemp all emerging as elite centers in the league. Hakeem went from a force to be reckoned with to a force that was overlooked, even by his own team (the Clippers). Fortunately, the Mavericks saw something in him that the Clippers didn't: they saw him as the missing piece. But this is where Jordan and Olajuwon's parallel paths in SLOE history split: Hakeem won two championships. He joined the Mavericks for 3 years as a starter, and then as he realized and understood his decline, he took on the spot of a reserve, contributing off the bench.

Hakeem Olajuwon was a man among boys when this league began. He dominated the paint for seasons, without anyone to stand in his way. He built up quite the treasure trove of accolades and personal achievements as he passed, but as he aged, he looked beyond those awards and achievements, sacraficed personal glory to be a part of a bigger whole (something he never had in his prime), and has 2 championship rings to show for it. That is the story of a 1st ballot hall of famer. That is the story of Hakeem Olajuwon.

[JNR]

Thanks Doug. You get 1 point.

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS 11:59 PM TOMORROW (FRIDAY). AFTER THE SEASON IS OVER, I'LL POST THE VOTING THREADS ON MONDAY.

[ballsohard]

I'd like to nominate Kevin Johnson.



In a time where OPs were dominating the league, there was but one one man who stood up and said NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND. Kevin Johnson's story began humbly during the redraft in 1990. Many others were taken ahead of him, but none had his heart and desire. Kevin Johnson had an uphill battle to earn the hearts and the admiration of the sim league. It was a time where point guards scoring 20 a game was frowned upon. Johnson broke the mold of the traditional point guard by being a lead scorer but also distributed the ball like no one had ever seen a lead guard do to that point.

During his prime years in L.A. during the 1990 - 1995 Seasons, KJ averaged an astounding 21 points and 9.7 assist per game. By 1992 Kevin Johnson had snatched the mantle of greatest point guard in the league from John Stockton.



Using his supreme athleticism and his court vision KJ went to 6 all star games and also named to 6 all league teams. Kevin Johnson lead the league in assist in 1993, 1995 and 1996 all while averaging near 20 a game. Kevin Johnson was not just a stat sheet stuffer. Johnson was a NBA champion and a Finals MVP. After the 1991 draft, the lakers selected Larry Johnson, and with Cedric Ceballos fully maturing, the Lakers ran through the 1992 playoffs like a buzz saw that no one saw coming. Johnson and the Lakers took down the 5 seed, the 1 seed and the 2 seed before making the future dynasty of the Celtics that Bojangles built wait a season.



Unfortunately, Johnson's finals success stopped there. After the 1991 season, rookie Larry Johnson came into the season out of shape and regressed as a player. The help Johnson had finally gotten was gone. Some say that LJ's early success softened him, other say it was the pizza and the hamburgers. Regardless, no one knows what these two could have accomplished together if not for outside distractions.

[IamQuailman]

Augmon

[PaulyP]

Gosh dammit i was away this weekend, why is the nomination process over at the end of the season ughhh

[JNR]

We can change it next season, give a longer time for noms to be open. I'm open to suggestions.