NBA All-Star Saturday kicked off with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announcing the 14 finalists to be considered for induction. In what most believe to be a down year, Tracy McGrady was the only surefire finalist. In his 15 year career, he averaged 19.6 points per game, 4.4 assists, and 5.6 rebounds. He had his best statistical season in Orlando playing for the Magic. In the 2002-2003 season he produced 32.1 points per game, 5.5 assists, and 6.6 rebounds and in his 4 seasons there he averaged a combined 28.1 points per game.
In his sometimes great, mostly tumultuous, career Tracy had never won a playoff series until he joined the Spurs as a 12th man. He was also part of some fun Raptors teams with Vince Carter and won 22 straight games with the Houston Rockets. He was an electrifying player who is certainly worthy of the Hall of Fame nod but never quite lived up to the “Kobe Bryant” potential.
The other Hall of Fame finalists include; Chris Webber, Hugh Evans, Tim Hardaway, Robert Hughes, Rebecca Lobo, Rollie Massimo, Muffet McGraw, Kim Mulkey, Sidney Moncrief, Bo Ryan, Bill Self, Rudy Tomjanovich, and Wayland Baptist University,
One notable name missing from the list is Ben Wallace. This comes as a slight surprise, Ben Wallace was an outstanding player and one of the better rebounders in NBA history. He also was a key player on the 2004 Pistons team who shockingly beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
The Basketball Hall of Fame also gave out their media awards. Harvey Araton and Craig Sager won the Curt Gowdy Media Award, while John Bunn and Michael Goldberg received the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 2017 Hall of Fame class will be announced April 3rd before the NCAA Championship Game and they will be enshrined September 7-9th.
