Yao Ming Retires

But he owned in EU league all that time. It's not like he wasn't doing anything till age of 31. He's had a pretty long & successful basketball career compared to Yao. Anyone would give him a nod over Yao if it comes down to HOF imo.

Yeah, but he was 30 [?!?] years old - which means about 8 years older then Yao - when he got drafted.

Sabonis got drafted at in the '86 Draft at age 22. He only played in the league at 31 yrs. old.

Meh... okay, okay.

Yeah, but he was 31 years old - which means about 8 years older then Yao - when he entered the league.

But he owned in EU league all that time. It's not like he wasn't doing anything till age of 31. He's had a pretty long & successful basketball career compared to Yao. Anyone would give him a nod over Yao if it comes down to HOF imo.

Damn right!

Look at his stats from 95-98.

And?

Look at his stats from 95-98.

And?

About 20 pts. pg, merly 10 boards pg (went down when joined the sonics), around 50% fg%, 2 asts. pg, 1 b. pg, 1 stl. pg is a little more than just okay...

Played 40 minutes a game. First and second in minutes played in back to back years. Had maybe two All-Star level years then the league gave him five extra months to get drunk without having to do it at halftime.

Even those two years weren't close to Yao.

Or Sabonis.

Played 40 minutes a game. First and second in minutes played in back to back years. Had maybe two All-Star level years then the league gave him five extra months to get drunk without having to do it at halftime.

Even those two years weren't close to Yao.

Or Sabonis.

I totally agree with you on Sabonis!
Baker should've served more as an example of 20/10 players with a few (I'd rather say 3 than 2) good seasons. E.g. C-Webb and Chuck have career averages of 20+/10 (I'd give C-Webb those 0,3 % he lacks). No doubt they belong to the HoF (I think C-Webb will get there sooner or later). Baker surly does not belong there. Yao Ming has career averages of 19.x/9.x. So far so good. C-Webb played a total of 911 games (831 regular season/ 80 postseason). Chuck even played 1196 games (1073 reg./ 123 post.).
Yao played just 514 games (486 reg./ 28 post.). If he'd posted up those numbers for about 2-3 more seasons or if he'd had some impressing pre NBA career like Sabonis I'd agree on him entering the HoF.

Barkley's numbers obliterate Baker's from orbit. Webber is closer but it's still easily in one direction.

Out of everyone mentioned's NBA careers, Barkley is the only one who should be in the Hall of Fame.

You've already said it, there are differences. Two rings and a MVP trophy. Don't get me wrong about Yao Ming. Everyone - including me - expected him to win at least one title with the Rockets. He just fell short in a way.

True, without that little extra something on his NBA resume, his Hall of Fame bid isn't quite as strong. I wouldn't consider him a lock and probably not a first ballot inductee if he does get in, but if that comes to pass it wouldn't exactly be a travesty in my opinion. I think he has enough significance in the sport to make it reasonable to at least consider him, but if the decision was that he just didn't do enough to get the nod then that'd be a fair enough call too.

The Sabonis comparison was inspired by this:

But as a player he haven't had that impact to introduce him into HoF, simply because he did not play enough seasons.

Wasn't suggesting Yao was as good as Sabonis, but completely discounting someone who was a perenial all-star because they didn't play enough seasons doesn't seem fair to me.

lol at not fair. Deal with it.

But he owned in EU league all that time. It's not like he wasn't doing anything till age of 31. He's had a pretty long & successful basketball career compared to Yao.

Who said Sabonis didn't?

just sayin. since hof and sabonis talk came out of nowhere together. but this... i agree the most

Out of everyone mentioned's NBA careers, Barkley is the only one who should be in the Hall of Fame.

will his #11 be retired in Houston?

Quoting Sabonis: 'If I had known playing in the NBA was so easy, I would have come over earlier' or something like that.

Anywho, Yao is out and might become GM of his Shanghai Sharks. Hopefully he has a nice time after retiring from playing ball and be a better GM than most other ex-NBA players.

will his #11 be retired in Houston?

I could see that happening before a HOF nod.

If not, then at the very least it will be a long time until someone else wears #11 here in Houston.

Even if they don't retire it next season or the year after, they'll probably make it unofficially unavailable until they do.

Quoting Sabonis: 'If I had known playing in the NBA was so easy, I would have come over earlier' or something like that.

Anywho, Yao is out and might become GM of his Shanghai Sharks. Hopefully he has a nice time after retiring from playing ball and be a better GM than most other ex-NBA players.

Thinking about Jordan?

Technically Jordan isn't a GM, he's the owner.

Whatever.

That's probably what Jordan said when he was asked if they should go ahead and draft AmMo.

...and Sean May, Alexis Ajinca, and others whose names depress me too much for me to remember.

You guys have to remember, Jordan's draft process works like this: Glance at the TV during the NCAA Tournament in-between hands.

"How about that guard from the winning team, whatcha call him. Juan Dixon? Yeah he looked pretty good."

"What about that white guy who cried? 30 points a game huh."

"That big guy from my Tar Heels. Put him on the list."

"20th pick? Why the fuck should I care, pick one of those European fags you're always talking about."

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/08/08/yao-hall-of-fame/index.html

Why? This isn't Nam, this is basketball. There are rules!
I'd understand if he'd be introduced into HoF somehow in the future, but why changing the rules for him? I mean they didn't even do it for MJ (maybe they feared he might come back for another time, but anyhow it was MJ! )...

Where on earth are they changing the rules?

Where on earth are they changing the rules?

"Plus, after announcing his retirement from the Rockets in July, he would not have been eligible for enshrinement until 2017.

This unique approach would put Yao on the ballot that is submitted in late-2011 and faces two rounds of voting before inductees for the Class of 2012 are announced at the Final Four in New Orleans. The actual enshrinement would be later in the summer, likely August, in Springfield."