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

Paul George

Career Accomplishments:

• 6-time All-Star
• 5-time All-NBA (one 1st Team, four 3rd Team)
• 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist

How He Stacks Up:

Paul George differs slightly from the rest of the players on this list because he’s still right in the middle of his prime. While the rest of these guys are passed (or at least at the tail end of) their primes, George is coming off the best season of his career and has just teamed up with Kawhi Leonard in Los Angeles.

He’s almost certainly going to significantly bolster his career achievements and awards by the time that the ever-mysterious Hall of Fame committee actually sits down to discuss his credentials.

Let’s pretend though that he’s played his last game in the NBA (again, I’m furiously knocking on wood). He’d retire with six All-Star selections and five All-NBA nods. Much like how Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love have eyebrow-raising similar accolades to this point in their careers, Paul George’s case checks many of the same boxes that Blake Griffin’s does.

They’ve both made six All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams, both finished third in MVP voting during one season of their careers, and neither has had much notable success in the playoffs.

Since I just went through about 600 words explaining the merits of Griffin’s Hall of Fame candidacy, I won’t repeat many of the same points here, but George has arguably an even better case than Griffin. Unlike Blake, George has a Gold Medal and has led a team to the Conference Finals.

Although George’s reputation among fans has soured somewhat due to his recent penchant for demanding trades from teams, he has been a top-15 player in this league for several years now and managed to beat the odds and come back to full strength after one of the most gruesome injuries in recent NBA history.

In five years, he’ll probably be looked at as a stone-cold lock, and by then, people will probably recognize him as such. As of now though, I think most people view him as a guy that has a lot of work to do before he reaches Hall of Fame status, but in reality, he’s right on the borderline for the Hall of Fame even if his time as a Clipper ends up adding nothing to his case.