Quote:
Originally Posted by BobC
And for those questioning Maravich belonging in the Basketball HOF, i think there's something like over 150 players enshrined in the basketball HOF now, and I believe he still ranks as having the 22nd highest scoring average per game all-time, of all combined NBA/ABA players, at 24.2 PPG. And aside from starting out his NBA career alongside Lou Hudson and future HOFer Walt Bellamy, and therefore sharing a lot of the scoring with them (Hudson and Bellamy were no slouches and had 20.16 PPG and 20.08 PPG career scoring averages, respectively), he didn't get the benefit of the 3-point shot. Unlike a lot of early players that did much of their work in the paint, Maravich was known for taking long, 3-point deep shots. Unfortunately, the NBA did not adopt the 3-point basket until Maravich's last year in the NBA, 1979-80. It is pretty safe to assume his PPG average would have been several points higher had the 3-point rule been in place, and his spot on the all-time PPG game would move up quite a few places. Also, for those commenting about his .441 career FG %, it may be more applicable to be comparing that to the FG % of today's 3-point shooters, than the FG % of guys working mostly in the paint back in Maravich's time.
And yes, he didn't get to play on any winning teams. After his initial stint with the Atlanta Hawks, he went to the brand new New Orleans Jazz expansion team, and spent half his NBA career there. Where being arguably the best player on the team for the first few years, he would have had a lot of attention placed on him, and stopping him from scoring. What until his last couple of years with the Jazz that he finally got some help from first, Truck Robinson, and then Spencer Haywood.
The fact that despite him playing with only a 2-point basket, he's still at 22 on the all-time PPG list, and everyone ahead of him is either already in the HOF, or still playing, I think is pretty good evidence that he does in fact belong in the HOF.
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For the record, I never questioned his HOF credentials. I questioned him being named to the NBA Greatest All-50 and All-75 Teams.
Makes no logical sense. His WS "Win Shares", which is basically basketballs version of WAR is at the bottom of the list on those teams. There's actually a big gap between him and Walton, and everybody else.
Even if you take into account his shorter career, his WS per 48 minutes is still at the very bottom of the list (Walton fares much better in this category). He scores a .092 per 48 minutes. For reference, league average is set at .100. Make of that what you will, dismiss analytics altogether, or whatever. He doesn't belong on those teams.
Adrian Dantley essentially replaced him on The Jazz. Dantley doesn't make either one of those teams, but he was better then Maravich in nearly every phase of the game...and for a much longer period of time.