The Basketball Hall of Fame is about to add some true legends.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will induct some new members in the next year, and the list of nominees in the 2018 class is quite impressive.
Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, and Ray Allen were included and will most likely be first-ballot Hall of Famers, and the last two were allowed consideration due to revised eligibility requirements. The other male nominees are Grant Hill, Chauncey Billups, and Richard “Rip” Hamilton. That is a lot of love for the Detroit Pistons. That franchise won the championship in 2004 against a loaded team of superstars on the Los Angeles Lakers and broke up the dynamic duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Kidd won a ring with the Dallas Mavericks and made it to the NBA Finals twice with the New Jersey Nets. Nash never won a title, but he changed the way that point guards approach the game offensively. Allen got his first chip with the Boston Celtics and then cashed in again with the Miami Heat and LeBron James.
All three belong in the Hall of Fame, and it would be surprising if any of them are denied entrance into its ranks.
There are a lot of holdover nominees including Chris Webber, Ben Wallace, Muggsy Bogues, Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway, and Sidney Moncrief.
All of those players are deserving of praise, but Kidd, Nash and Allen were on a different level. They helped to transform the game. Nash and Allen propelled the league to a place where jump shooters are valued above almost everyone else, and Kidd showed that you can have an impact on the floor even without a decent jumper. Later on in his career, he evolved and became one of the best spot-up shooters ever.
Next: NBA: 1980s All-Decade First Team
Congratulations to all of the nominees, but the rest will have to get in line behind Kidd, Nash and Allen.