NBA: 5 active NBA players surprisingly close to the Hall of Fame

LaMarcus Aldridge

Career Accomplishments:

• 7-time All-Star
• 5-time All-NBA (two 2nd Team, three 3rd Team)

How He Stacks Up:

If young Blake Griffin is dunking over cars and old Blake Griffin is dunking over bicycles, LaMarcus Aldridge would probably be dunking over a skateboard. With a game built around footwork, basketball IQ, a silky midrange jumper, and a severe lack of the type of explosive athleticism that made Blake Griffin a household name, Aldridge has long been derided as one of the most boring players in today’s game.

While Griffin’s style has frequently overshadowed his substance, Aldridge’s lack of style has often caused people to overlook his substance. He has been selected to seven All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams in his career.

After Jack Sikma’s induction into the Hall of Fame earlier this year, the list of Hall-eligible players with seven or more All-Star selections who are not in the Hall of Fame has shrunk to just one name: Fort Wayne Pistons’ legend, Larry Foust (although, to be fair, Joe Johnson will likely join Larry on this ignominious list as soon as he is eligible).

If cumulative, round-numbered statistical milestones are more your jam, then Aldridge has those, too. He’s basically a lock for 20,000 points, and he’s got a decent shot at 10,000 rebounds. The list of guys with those two milestones is only 18 names long, and they are all in or well on their way to the Hall of Fame. Even if he can’t quite reach 10,000 boards for his career, just reaching 20,000 points on its own is almost a guarantee for induction.

Antawn Jamison and Tom Chambers are the only members of that exclusive club stuck on the outside looking in (although, again, Iso Joe Johnson is probably going to be a +1 to this list in a couple of years).

Another small thing that I think gives a marginal boost to Aldridge’s resume is the fact that one of those years in which he made an All-NBA team (2011) was a year in which he did not make the All-Star team. Traditionally, when a player is a seven-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA player, you can take this to mean that a player was really good for seven seasons (I know, I know, All-Star appearances are often a popularity contest and not a true measure of how good a player is, but I’m speaking in generalities here, so just bear with me) and at least really, really good for five out of those seven seasons.

With Aldridge though, due to that disconnect between All-Star seasons and All-NBA seasons, you can basically say that he had eight really good seasons and five of those were really, really good. It’s not much, but I’d argue that having eight All-Star caliber seasons is, in fact, more impressive than having seven All-Star caliber seasons.

Long story short, LMA would probably be one of the least famous NBA players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but if you’re like most people and view the Hall more as a shrine dedicated to basketball greatness rather than literal fame, then LaMarcus has the longevity and peak to be deserving of induction, despite the highlight-reel-averse nature of his game.