<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Adrian Dantley doesn't understand. He feels he deserves to have his name honored among the rest, feels he belongs. And, no, he is not talking about having his number retired by the Jazz. That's another tale, tired but worth re-visiting in a while. Rather, the immediate issue is induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. "At this point now," Dantley said Friday, "I don't even try to figure it out." On Sunday, the hall will announce finalists for its Class of 2005.</div> <div align="center">Link</div>
I read this earlier, I don't know if Dantley is HOF quality but he deserves his jersey to be retired by the Jazz. Dantley wasn't much on defense in his day but he could score tons of points; when he retired he was the 9th all time leading scorer in NBA history. And being 6'5 playing the 3 and 4 positions throughout his career has to give him some edge on some other players. But I think he deserves to be there as much as a guy like James Worthy and if Joe Dumars makes it, I think Dantley deserves it as much or more than him. But that is my 2 cents.
If it was called the "Hall of Skills," Dantley should easily be voted in ahead of Dumars. He was a scoring machine. But as it is, it's called the "Hall of Fame," and those rings make Dumars stand out much more than Dantley.
I see what you are saying, but I think that the Hall of Fame is more for individuals. Sure having rings helps your case to get in, but it doesn't make you that much of a better player, skills wise. You could make the case that Adrian Dantley was better than James Worthy, but James Worthy gets recognized more than Dantley because of his rings. While if you switched their places, I think Dantley would have been a first ballot HOF. Adrian Dantley, who was 6'5, played the small forward position during the 80's, where he was matched up with guys like Larry Bird, James Worthy, Alex English, Mark Aguire, just to name a few. Some say that Dantley was a cancer in the locker room, but guys like Stockton and Malone said that he taught them a lot about the NBA and life around the NBA, especially Malone. Also, Dantley would of won a ring with the Pistons if they had not traded him to Dallas midway through the 1988-89 season. More I think about it, I think he should be elected in it, even though he probably won't be inducted.
