#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

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. 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 Arnett Moultrie 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 I 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 will be open until the end of the season. I will then create polls for the nominated players that will be open until the end of the playoffs.

There are no retirees from this year. Here are the retirees from last year:

6/19/2017 Trailblazers SF Stephen Jackson retires

And the year before:

6/20/2016 Trailblazers PG Kirk Hinrich retires
6/20/2016 Raptors SF Tim Thomas retires
6/20/2016 Trailblazers SG Tracy McGrady retires *VOTED TO HALL OF FAME*

Here are notable free agents who retired this year:

Andrei Kirilenko
Pau Gasol

And notable free agents who retired the past two years:

Eddie Griffin
Kevin Garnett *VOTED TO HALL OF FAME*
Baron Davis
Rip Hamilton
Mike Miller
Rashard Lewis *VOTED TO HALL OF FAME*
Caron Butler
Luis Scola
Yao Ming
Joe Johnson

And here are the other HOF nominees from the past few years who did not get in. Perhaps you want to nominate them again this year?

Chauncey Billups
Antonio McDyess
Ray Allen
Keith Van Horn
Paul Pierce
Mike Miller
Dirk Nowitzki

Jalen Rose received 50% of the vote and will be eligible for a third vote this season.

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.

Stephen Jackson never won any championships. He came close with a couple teams (Bucks and Jazz come to mind), however, he never found himself in just the right situation to get to the big one. He was a great scorer; Jackson had averaged 20+ppg in 7 straight seasons (3 straight seasons averaging 24+). That alone merits him a discussion. However, what makes S-Jax a bonafide candidate is how he left his mark on the NBA. He was a defensive MACHINE. Let's look at his accolades:

Total Player of the Game: 197
Total Player of the Week: 16
Total Player of the Month: 3
Total All-Star Appearances: 6
Total All-League First Team: 1
Total All-League Second Team: 3
Total All-League Third Team: 1
Total All-Defensive First Team: 1
Total All-Defensive Second Team: 3
Total Defensive Player of the Year: 1
Total Steals Leader: 1

Stephen Jackson came in as the FIFTH pick in the 2000 draft, selected by the Bulls. However, the tumultuous situation in Chicago left Stephen Jackson with a rudder-less ship there... despite this, he put up his career best averages in the 2005-06 season, averaging 30+ ppg, 7.4 rpg, 4.2 apg, and 2.3 spg. He was #2 on the Scoring Leaders list. Jackson also was named (CPU) Most Improved Player, All-League 1st Team, All-Defense 2nd Team, AND Steals Leader in this season. He literally put the team on his back, but unfortunately, it just wasn't enough. He was traded to the Bucks in 2006 where he paired with Ron Artest. However, after being the #1 in Chicago for all of his career to this point, Jackson and Artest couldn't make it work out in Milwaukee (similar skillset at the same position). He was sent off to another juggernaut in Utah, before being sent to the Knicks a season later. Stephen spent the next couple years with the Knicks where he continued to rack up defensive accolades with no title to show for it. After his run in New York ended, he went to Dallas, where he got the most prestigious defensive award out there: DPOY. Unfortunately for Stephen, still no title.

When it comes to NBA Hall of Fame, if you don't have a championship, you need to have something to point at that says "LOOK AT ME". The lack of a championship isn't necessarily a testament to Stephen as it was a testament to his surroundings and situations he was placed in. It will always be "what could have been" in that regard. But I will say this: Stephen Jackson's defense may be up there with some of the all time greats. His presence on that side of the ball doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but he was as lock down as you can get with a Forward in the NBA. And he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I will defend that as stoutly as Sjax defended his opponents night in and night out.

You can collect one point, Doug