Golden State Warriors: Is Andre Iguodala A Future Hall Of Famer?

Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala has had a solid career thus far, but has he done enough in order to punch himself a Hall of Fame bid?

Andre Iguodala. Is he a future hall of famer?

This isn’t as simple of a question as you may think. As a Sixers fan, I’ve seen Iguodala first hand and have followed him closely since the Sixers traded him for Jell-O. He actually has many parts in his resume that HOFs typically have.

Now, keep this in mind: This is the Basketball Hall of Fame. Not just your NBA career, but college, international, (W)NBA, whatever. And, Iguodala has a decent resume:

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1x NBA Champion
1x NBA Finals MVP
1x All-Star
2x Gold Medalist

As for his team listings:

1x 1st NBA Defense
1x 2nd NBA Defense
1x All-Pac-10

When Iguodala first joined my Philadelphia 76ers, he quickly established himself as a defender who could dunk. He won that dunk contest in 2006, and that’s all there is to it.

Ah, but, anyway, Iguodala blossomed as an all around player. Andre could pass, score (a bit), rebound, defend, and more. He was always a presence on defense. Iguodala was always assigned to the likes of Kobe, Carmelo, LeBron, and other very good or great wing players.

Now, Basketball Reference has his HOF probability at 1.3%. Okay, but consider this: For active players, he ranks 35th out of 100 players for odds of getting in. However, he ranks 239 out of 250 for players all-time. He likely won’t climb higher unless other players ahead of him slip. He’s 32 so you’d imagine he’s not going to make much more noise.

Generally, MVPs (regular season and/or finals) make it to the HOF.

There have been 30 players to win Finals MVP. Iguodala is of course one of them so, out of the 29 players who have won, six of them are active players, so we don’t know what their status is (I mean, Paul Pierce, LeBron, Tony Parker, and Dirk are on their way to the HOF). So, that leaves us with 23 players to examine.

Only two of the 23 players who are not active in the NBA who have won a Finals MVP award are not in the HOF (or on their way like Tim Duncan or Kobe). So, why does it seem like Iguodala isn’t quite there yet?

Well, there is one glaring omission from Iguodala’s resume: All-NBA. While he has won during the playoffs, he’s simply never been a top 10-15 player in the league during the regular season. He’s never been that. He has everything but that. At his age, and his current role on the Golden State Warriors, I highly doubt he’ll ever get the chance.

Thing is, plenty of players are in the HOF or are going there despite not winning an NBA championship. Some players are not going to the HOF even with multiple championships. It’s interesting; it would appear that regular season work weighs more than playoff/finals work, even if being an NBA champion is the ultimate goal of just about every player.

Of course, plenty of players on that list hadn’t won a regular season MVP, but again, they were a top player in the league at least once. Iguodala has not been that. I wouldn’t say he could never make it. I’d say it’s a long shot, though.

His college career wasn’t all that spectacular, although he’s definitely one of the best players to come out of his college, Arizona. But, he didn’t win there. When he was on the court, however, he was one of the best players.

His Olympic play is interesting. He’s got two gold medals, but was hardly the key player on those teams.

It’s not like this was as simple of a case as you might have thought. Iguodala has put together a really solid basketball career that technically isn’t over yet (as he can accomplish more things; but probably on the all time list categories).

Maybe his defense can carry him. For the majority of his career, he was definitely a top defender (top 10-15 for at least perimeter defense). Some people said that Dikembe Mutombo really got in just for his defense. Some could say that about Dennis Rodman. I’m not saying Iguodala is comparable.

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But, I am saying the voters (I guess) are valuing impact on the game in many areas that may not necessarily transfer to superstardom. Iguodala has ranked in the top 10 in steals for seven seasons and is currently 38th all time in the NBA. He’s 82nd in NBA history with Defensive Win Shares.

What do you think? Is there absolutely no chance he makes it? Will he slip in?

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