Kobe Bryant Headlines the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2020 was announced in April 2020, but the induction ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the most recent Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Induction took place in September 2019. The Class of 2020 includes Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett.
The Class of 2020 had been eagerly anticipated for several years, but the anticipation took a tragic turn with the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in a January 2020 helicopter crash. We will never hear Bryant's acceptance speech. What tone would he have set? Would he have been serious, humorous, defiant, or some combination of all of the above? Michael Jordan, who was tapped by Bryant's widow Vanessa to be Bryant's Hall of Fame presenter, used his 2009 Hall of Fame acceptance speech as a platform to settle old scores, both real and imagined. Some people were offended, others were amused, but no one could deny that Jordan was displaying his authentic self.
We saw a different, softer side of Jordan when he spoke at Bryant's memorial service last year, but we will never know how Bryant would have handled his special Hall of Fame moment. However, Vanessa Bryant delivered a remarkably poised and thoughtful speech on behalf of her husband. How can someone who lost her husband and one of her daughters in such a sudden and shocking fashion not only keep her emotions together but speak so eloquently? I recall the snarky ways that many media members referred to her after she married Bryant, and I am reminded yet again why I do not trust what the media says unless those assertions are supported by significant and objective evidence.
Vanessa Bryant thanked Jordan for being Kobe Bryant's presenter: "Kobe admired you. This means so much to us." Then, Vanessa said, "I used to always avoid praising my husband in public, because I felt
like he got enough praise from his fans around the world and someone had
to bring him back to reality. Right now, I'm sure he's laughing in
heaven because I'm about to praise him in public for his accomplishments
on one of the most public stages."
Vanessa provided some insight about how much Hall of Fame induction meant to Kobe: "He didn't really talk about upcoming awards, but he did mention this
one a week before Gigi passed. My husband and I were sitting at our
kitchen island, and he and I had a conversation about my mother- and
father-in-law attending tonight's enshrinement. I invited my mother- and
father-in-law to tonight's enshrinement to thank them for bringing one
of the most amazing human beings into this world. Pam and Joe, thank you
for raising Kobe to be exceptional. Thank you to all of Kobe's family.
Sharia, you've gone above and beyond. I love you."
Vanessa added, "If my husband were here tonight, he
would have a long list of people to thank that helped inspire him and
equip him to be in the Hall of Fame. Family, friends,
mentors, the Lakers, teammates, muses and opponents."
She sounded most like Kobe when she also thanked the doubters and the critics for inspiring Kobe to prove them wrong: "I do know that he would thank everyone
that helped him get here, including the people that doubted him and the
people that worked against him and told him he couldn't attain his
goals. He would thank all of them for motivating him to be
here. After all, he proved you wrong."
Vanessa provided a short list of the many injuries that Kobe overcame during his career, and she explained why he regularly played through those injuries: "People
don't know this, but one of the reasons my husband played through
injuries and pain was because he said he remembered being a little kid
sitting in the nosebleeds with his dad to watch his favorite player
play. He could recall the car ride,
the convos and the excitement of being lucky enough to have a seat in
the arena. Kobe didn't want to disappoint his fans, especially the ones in the 300
sections that saved up to watch him play--the kids with the same
excitement he once had."
Kobe Bryant did not practice "load management," and the game would be much better off if that odious phrase disappeared from NBA life.
Vanessa concluded, "Congratulations baby. All of your hard work and sacrifice has paid off.
You once told me, if you are going to bet on someone, bet on yourself.
I'm glad you bet on yourself, you overachiever. You did it. You're in the Hall of Fame now. You are a true champ. You're
not just an MVP. You're an all-time great. I'm so proud of you. I love
you forever and always. Kobe. Bean. Bryant."
Bryant and Duncan are two of the four "modern" members of my Pantheon, along with Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James. Those four players collectively won 18 NBA championships, dominating the post-Michael Jordan era for two decades. Bryant's Lakers defeated Duncan's Spurs four times in six playoff
series, winning 18 out of 30 playoff games. Bryant's Lakers also defeated
Garnett's teams (Timberwolves/Celtics) three times in four playoff
series, winning 14 out of 25 playoff games. Bryant won five championships--tied with Duncan for the most NBA titles won by a star player in the post-Jordan era--plus two Finals MVPs (2009-10), and one regular season MVP (2008). Bryant finished in the top five in regular season MVP voting 11 times, and a good argument can be made that he deserved to win multiple regular season MVPs.
Duncan was not flashy, but he was efficient, fundamentally sound, and durable. He won his first NBA title in 1999 (his second pro season), and he won his fifth NBA title in 2014. Other than free throw shooting, Duncan had no skill set weaknesses. Duncan won two regular season MVPs (2002-03) and three Finals MVPs (1999, 2003, 2005). Duncan is routinely--and correctly--called the greatest power forward of all-time, yet it seems that media members and fans tend to underrate him. I have not and will not select one player as the greatest player of all-time, but it is not clear why only LeBron James is widely touted for that distinction among the four best players of the post-Jordan era. O'Neal, Duncan, and Bryant (listed in chronological order) each posted better Finals winning percentages than James (4-2 for O'Neal, 5-1 for Duncan, 5-2 for Bryant, 4-6 for James). Finals winning percentage is not the only--or even necessarily the most important--measure of greatness, but it means something, particularly since James spent a good portion of his prime trying (and mostly failing) to win championships while Duncan and Bryant both added to their championship totals. James never faced Bryant in a playoff series, but James went just 1-2 versus Duncan in the NBA Finals. Asserting that James is somehow a superior winner to Jordan (who went 6-0 in the NBA Finals) is bizarre, and asserting that James is a superior winner to Bill Russell (who went 11-1 in the NBA Finals) is nonsensical, particularly when James has not even established himself as the greatest winner of the post-Jordan era. Long story short, Duncan deserves more praise and recognition than he receives, but he is not the type of player or person who would whine about being disrespected while he is being handed a Finals MVP award.
Duncan began his speech by mentioning that this is the most nervous he had ever been, including all of his appearances in the NBA Finals. Despite his evident discomfort with public speaking, he spoke articulately, and he lavished praise on those who helped him along the way, including his parents, his coaches, and his teammates. He did not pick up a basketball until he was 14--his goal to become an Olympic swimmer was thwarted when a hurricane destroyed the swimming pool where he trained--but less than a decade later he was an NBA champion and a Finals MVP.
Garnett was not as polished or as efficient as Duncan in terms of low post scoring, nor was Garnett as effective protecting the paint (even though Garnett had much greater leaping ability than Duncan). Except for the 2003-04 season when Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell handled the clutch scoring duties as the Timberwolves advanced to the Western Conference Finals, Garnett's Minnesota teams did not accomplish much in the playoffs; he won his only NBA title in 2008 with Paul Pierce capturing the Finals MVP, and with Pierce combining with Ray Allen to handle the clutch scoring responsibilities for the Boston Celtics. This may sound strange and it is not meant as a criticism but just as an accurate description: Garnett was a very high functioning role player. Make no mistake, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and he is included in my 50 Greatest Players List, but his value was most notable in terms of high energy, rebounding, defense, and setting screens. Garnett was not going to take over a game offensively down the stretch, and he could not have won a championship without playing alongside multiple Hall of Famers who could take over a game offensively down the stretch; in that sense, Garnett differed from Bryant, Duncan, James, and even O'Neal, who could take over games offensively down the stretch despite being a poor free throw shooter.
Garnett volunteered to be the first Hall of Famer presented, joking that he wanted to get his speech in before the retired players fell asleep. Garnett graciously thanked Bill Willoughby, Darryl Dawkins, Moses Malone, and Spencer Haywood. In the 1970s, Willoughby, Dawkins, and Malone paved the way for high school players to jump directly to pro basketball without attending college, a path that no other player followed until Garnett accomplished this in 1995. Haywood won a U.S. Supreme Court case that resulted in the NBA instituting a "hardship" rule (now called "early entry") that benefited not only the high schoolers listed above, but also NBA legends who left college before their classes graduated, including Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan.
The other 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame inductees include Eddie Sutton, Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, and Patrick Baumann. All of the Hall of Famers have inspirational life stories, but in this space I focus primarily on the NBA; the fourth 2020 inductee with significant NBA connections is Rudy Tomjanovich. He coached Bryant briefly in the 2004-05 season before health issues compelled him to resign at the Lakers' coach, but Tomjanovich is being inducted as a coach primarily because he led the Houston Rockets to back to back titles in 1994-95. His Rockets had a never say die attitude, epitomized by his famous quote, "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!" That championship success would be meaningful to anyone, but the special meaning for Tomjanovich is that he will no longer be most remembered as the victim of Kermit Washington's savage punch that nearly killed him. Tomjanovich was an All-Star for the Rockets before suffering serious injuries from that punch, and he recovered enough to make the All-Star team again, but he was never the same as a player. It is testament to his heart of a champion that he not only returned to the court successfully but that he became such a great and beloved coach. Tomjanovich thanked the many coaches and commentators who spoke up about his worthiness as a Hall of Famer, and he used the platform provided by his speech to make a passionate appeal that Robert Horry--who won two championships while playing for Tomjanovich en route to capturing seven NBA titles overall--deserves to be inducted.
Labels: Basketball Hall of Fame, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Rudy Tomjanovich, Tim Duncan, Vanessa Bryant
posted by David Friedman @ 12:44 AM
Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett Headline 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame Class
The annual announcement of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class is usually one of the highlights of Final Four weekend, as college basketball's best teams compete for the NCAA Championship.
This year is much different. There is no NCAA Championship, as just about every sport in the world--and most other businesses deemed non-essential--has been shut down in an attempt to "flatten the curve" of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have no idea when sports, or life in general, will ever return to normal; we don't even know IF life will return to normal, at least in terms of how "normal" was previously defined.
So, there was not a big Hall of Fame announcement ceremony, with most or all of the new Hall of Famers together on one stage. Instead, the announcement took place under the shadow of the ubiquitous rules of "social distancing." We do not know if the Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place as scheduled this fall.
Even before COVID-19 changed the world, we knew that this year's Basketball Hall of Fame announcement would be unlike any other, due to
Kobe Bryant's death. Bryant, an elite performer for seven NBA Finalists and five NBA championship teams during an 11 year span, is the greatest NBA winner--along with Tim Duncan--of the post-Michael Jordan era. A strong argument could be made that Bryant is the greatest player of the post-Michael Jordan era as well. Bryant won two Finals MVPs (2009, 2010), and one regular season MVP (2008) while earning 11 All-NBA First Team selections, and nine All-Defensive First Team selections. Bryant tied Karl Malone's record for the most All-NBA First Team selections, a mark since broken by LeBron James. Bryant is tied with Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, and Kevin Garnett for the most All-Defensive First Team selections.
In
Looking Back on the Kobe Bryant Era, I wrote:
There are so many statistics and facts that demonstrate Bryant's impact
that it is difficult to know where to begin. Bryant will be most
remembered for championships and scoring, so those are two good places
to start. Bill Russell lapped the field with 11 NBA championships as a
player and several of his teammates rank high on the list of most
championships won, including Sam Jones (10) and John Havlicek
(eight), who is tied with teammates Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones and
Satch Sanders. The player who won the most NBA titles without playing
alongside Bill Russell is Robert Horry (seven), who was a superb role
player for championship teams in Houston, L.A. and San Antonio. Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen won six championships
apiece. Then there is a 13 way tie among players who have won five
championships; Bryant is in that group, which includes elite players
such as George Mikan, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan plus
rebounder/defensive specialist Dennis Rodman and several high quality
players who were not all-time greats. In terms of players who were the
dominating forces on championship teams, only Russell, Abdul-Jabbar,
Jordan and Pippen won more titles than Bryant. Sam Jones was a
great--and underrated--player but he had just five All-Star selections
scattered among his 10 championship seasons, while Havlicek was not an
All-Star during his first three championship runs.
Duncan,
the greatest power forward of all-time and a five-time NBA champion as well, joins Bryant in the Class of 2020. Duncan won three Finals MVPs (1999, 2003, 2005), and two regular season MVPs (2002, 2003) while also earning 10 All-NBA First Team selections, and eight All-Defensive First Team selections. Duncan finished in the top eight in regular season MVP voting in each of his first 11 seasons, including five top three finishes. He was a consummate professional, leader, and teammate.
Kevin Garnett played a key role for Boston's 2008 NBA championship team after spending the first portion of his career in Minnesota struggling to get past the first round of the playoffs. He won the 2004 regular season MVP, and he finished in the top five in MVP voting four other times. He made the All-NBA First Team four times, and he made the All-Defensive First Team nine times. Garnett could score, and pass, but he made his presence felt most with his rebounding--winning four straight rebounding titles (2004-07)--and his defense.
Duncan was the premier big man of the post-Michael Jordan era--Shaquille O'Neal was more physically dominant during his prime, but Duncan outlasted O'Neal as a top level performer--and Bryant was the premier perimeter player of the post-Michael Jordan era. Garnett did not match either of them in terms of individual statistical dominance, or team success; Garnett is
not a Pantheon-level player--he is not in the conversation about the greatest basketball player of all-time--but he is worthy of first ballot Hall of Fame induction.
Bryant's Lakers defeated Duncan's Spurs four times in six playoff series, winning 18 out of 30 playoff games. Bryant's Lakers defeated Garnett's teams (Timberwolves/Celtics) three times in four playoff series, winning 14 out of 25 playoff games. Of course, Bryant rarely matched up one on one with either player. Duncan and Garnett faced each other in two playoff series, with Duncan's Spurs beating Garnett's Timberwolves 3-1 both times (1999, 2001).
All eight of the Hall of Fame Finalists will be inducted this year, which is somewhat unusual; last year, several of the Finalists did not make the cut, including retired NBA players Marques Johnson, Ben Wallace, and Chris Webber.
Patrick Baumann (FIBA executive) was directly elected posthumously by the Hall of Fame's International Committee; direct elections by other Hall of Fame committees were suspended this year due to all of the attention that will be focused on Bryant, Duncan, and Garnett, with the expectation that direct elections will resume next year.
The other 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame inductees are (in alphabetical order) Tamika Catchings (WNBA player), Kim Mulkey (NCAA coach), Barbara Stevens (NCAA coach), Eddie Sutton (NCAA coach), and Rudy Tomjanovich (NBA coach).
Tomjanovich is the only person who scored at least 10,000 points as an NBA player and won at least 500 regular season games plus at least
two championships as an NBA coach. He also coached Team USA to a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics. He made the All-Star team five times during his playing career, including four straight selections before suffering serious head and facial injuries after Kermit Washington hit him during a game early in the 1977-78 season. Tomjanovich nearly died, and he missed the rest of that season before returning to All-Star form in 1978-79. Tomjanovich is perhaps best known for saying "Never underestimate the heart of a champion" while leading the Houston Rockets to back to back NBA titles in 1994-95.
Labels: Basketball Hall of Fame, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Rudy Tomjanovich, Tim Duncan
posted by David Friedman @ 2:39 PM
Reflections on "Clutch City" and Character
The NBA TV special "Clutch City" is an engaging oral history of the Houston Rockets teams that won back to back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. The quote "Sports do not build character; they reveal it" is often attributed to legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden but most likely was first uttered--perhaps in a slightly different wording--by sports writer
sports writer Heywood Hale Broun. It certainly applies to the Rockets, who overcame much individual and collective adversity to become two-time champions.
Rudy Tomjanovich was an NBA All-Star for the Rockets in the 1970s before being hired as the team's coach in 1992. Tomjanovich not only survived an infamous--and nearly fatal--in-game punch from Kermit Washington but after missing nearly a full season to recover Tomjanovich regained All-Star status. Later, he successfully battled alcoholism and cancer. Tomjanovich is sometimes described as a "players' coach"--which can be a backhanded compliment implying that he did not make many strategic decisions and just relied on his players' talents--but Tomjanovich was very detail-oriented in addition to having the right personality to build a culture of togetherness.
Tomjanovich's steady and heady leadership proved to be critically important during Houston's 1994 Western Conference semifinal matchup versus the Phoenix Suns. The Rockets blew an 18 point lead at home in game one and then set an ignominious playoff record by squandering a 20 point fourth quarter lead in game two. Headlines blared that Houston was "Choke City" but Tomjanovich saw two silver linings in what looked like pitch black clouds: not only could those negative headlines provide motivation to his players but a careful and strategic examination of the game film showed that Houston's big leads were not flukes. Tomjanovich gathered his team around and delivered a simple message: There are solid, repeatable actions that enabled us to build big leads and if we do those actions again we will win this series. The Rockets defeated Phoenix in seven games en route to capturing the first championship in franchise history.
Another Rocket who overcame adversity is Robert Horry. The Rockets traded Horry to the Detroit Pistons for Sean Elliott during the 1993-94 season because they thought that Horry was too passive on offense but when Elliott failed his physical due to a previously undetected kidney ailment Horry ended up back in Houston as a changed man: he became more aggressive offensively, reasoning that the worst thing that could happen was that they would trade him and he had already been through that anyway. Horry's drives and three point shots helped create the necessary spacing for Hakeem Olajuwon to go to work in the paint. As Tomjanovich explained in "Clutch City," basketball is a game of inches and if one player is just a little out of place or does not cut at the right time then the whole offense can break down (try explaining that to a "stat guru" who only looks at numbers and does not know how to watch games to figure out things like proper spacing).
Tough times revealed the true character of Tomjanovich and Horry--and, in a much sadder way, tough times also revealed the true character of
Vernon Maxwell. Maxwell has made a litany of poor decisions during his life but even before his impulsiveness sent his life completely off of the rails one could glimpse his true character based on how he handled some basketball adversity. Maxwell played an important role for Houston's 1994 championship team but when the Rockets struggled during the 1995 season they traded power forward Otis Thorpe for shooting guard Clyde Drexler, who would soon be chosen as
one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history. Drexler played the same position as Maxwell, whose playing time understandably declined. Maxwell was not pleased and the situation reached a crisis point after the Rockets lost game one of their first round playoff series versus the Utah Jazz. Tomjanovich kept Maxwell on the bench for most of the game but brought him in at the end to attempt a potentially game-winning three pointer. Maxwell missed the shot but his attitude in the aftermath focused on himself, not the team. Maxwell recalls, "After the game, I lost it. You don't put me in with five
minutes and you gonna put me in the last minute of the game to try to
make the game-winning shot? Who do that, man? I don't want the shot."
Here is Tomjanovich's measured take about Maxwell (who shot 1-7 from the field in that game): "He did not play well. I know that he wanted to play more. The fact of the matter was he was going to play less."
Maxwell could not take the pressure and could not submerge his ego for the benefit of the team. So, he did what cowards usually do when faced with a challenge: he quit. Maxwell told his teammates, "I'm done. I'm leaving tonight."
Point guard
Kenny Smith, now a basketball commentator for TNT, implored Maxwell to stay: "I said, 'We need you. Don't leave.' Couldn't talk him off the ledge."
In "Clutch City," Maxwell explains his thought process:
"I just told them, 'I quit.' I hated that I did it that way. I should
have just sat down and (thought it through) but I never was a guy to do
that, to sit back and think first and react later. I just go, 'I'm
gone.' Dumb decision, man. Worst decision of my life." The validity of that last statement can be questioned considering Maxwell's subsequent criminal convictions and his deplorable track record as a neglectful father--but the cowardly way that Maxwell ran when things got tough during his sports career revealed the (lack of) character that he subsequently demonstrated in his personal life. As a father, I will always set an example for my precious daughter Rachel Sophia that you face challenges instead of running from them. What matters in life is teamwork and toughness, not doing what you want in the moment because of anger, fear or jealousy.
Vernon Maxwell's ego and selfishness did not destroy the team but rather destroyed his chance to be part of something special, because the Rockets went on to win the 1995 championship without him. Clearly, Maxwell was not an indispensable member of the first championship team because the second championship team went the distance without him, coming back from 2-1 down versus Utah and later rallying from a 3-1 deficit versus the Suns.
Two decades later, Tomjanovich looks back on those championships with fondness and pride: "We had mentally tough guys and they found ways to get it done. Being a champion doesn't just happen. You've got to go through a war. You've got to go through some adversity, some hard feelings, some tears but the team that doesn't let that stuff bother them has a special quality."
Labels: Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, Rudy Tomjanovich, Vernon Maxwell
posted by David Friedman @ 6:02 PM
