No Hall for Mully, Nellie
By Marcus Thompson
Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 9:30 pm in Uncategorized.
Neither Chris Mullin nor Don Nelson will not be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, according to multiple sources. The announcement comes Monday. No shocker. With the least this year — Michael Jordan, John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, Cynthia Cooper, C. Vivian Stringer — it was going to be tough for them to get in.
They needed at least 18 of 24 votes to get in. This is Mullin’s third consecutive year as a finalist and not getting the necessary votes. This is also Nelson’s third year as a finalist (2006, 2008, 2009).
You know their resumes. Mullin was a big time high school and college player. He was an All-Star NBA player and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Nelson is 26 wins shy of being the winningest coach ever. He’s an innovator and is knowing for turning around bad teams.
Neither won a title or even reached the Finals. Mullin, in his next to last season, reached the NBA Finals with Indiana, losing to the Lakers.
So, did either of them get hosed? Or do you agree that they shouldn’t get in?
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April 5th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Umm..I don’t know. Compared to the names up there, I would say its a pretty fair deal.
April 5th, 2009 at 12:19 am
I think Robert Rowell should be in the Hall … if it ever collapses.
April 5th, 2009 at 12:23 am
They both should be in.
April 5th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Didn’t Mullin play in the 1999-2000 finals against the Lakers? I’m pretty sure he did.
April 5th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Don Nelson should never even be nominated in the HOF. Don Nelson has been a nightmare to many of his players. Just ask Al Harrington or Jamal Crawford or Jim Petersen or Tom Tolbert or any of present rookies. No wonder, his thirty years in league haven’t got him the coveted prize. Not even close. He is a terrible example to emulate.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Chris Mullin and Don Nelson should both get into the Hall of Fame. No question.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Odd. I heard Jim Petersen this year talking about what a good coach Nellie is, how much he learned from him, and saying he belonged in the Hall.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Your lead is confusing. Is they is or is they ain’t goin’ in the hall?
April 5th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Lotsa guys in the baseball hall of fame based on longevity numbers. On that alone, Nelson should get in, add to that his innovations, so yes. Mullin gets lost in a sea of other good shooting wings. Take every one of them and the hall would be bursting. Mullin, no.
April 5th, 2009 at 9:28 am
i think they should and eventually will get in.
April 5th, 2009 at 9:48 am
OregonWarriorfan must not be old enough to remember watching Mullin. His scoring numbers during his prime were far superior than just most “good-shooting wings.” He forgets everything else Mully could do on top of superior FT and FG percentages – a great passer, good team defender (slow feet, but quick hands and quick reads – I believe he led all NBA small forwards in steals at least one year, which included guys like Pippen). And, as strange as it sounds, he could also get to the rim … somehow. Tom Tolbert once described it as Mullin not being able to play fast at all, yet somehow being able to make defenders around him look slower. He was a joy to watch – like a poor man’s Bird, if we was bigger and rebounded better. And if, you know, his team didn’t trade Parish and McHale for Joe Barely Cares.
April 5th, 2009 at 10:00 am
I agree that they will both get in, and i agree w/ OregonWarriorfan that Mullin is a harder sell.
Efren on the other hand is completely incorrect. *BOTH* Peterson and Tolbert constantly say how great of a coach Nelson is/was.
April 5th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Great double negative in your lead sentence Marcus; leads me to believe that they’ll both be enshrined.
April 5th, 2009 at 11:12 am
In or out, Nelson is done.
April 5th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Hi Marcus,
I wanted to ask you, with the end of the NCAA Tourney, of all the 1′s and 2′s that played in the field of 64, which would you pair with Monta in the starting lineup, regardless of where you had to put SJax?
There is a bit of a debate between Ty Lawson and Jonny Flynn, who are both undersized in regards to height, but I feel like Lawson would be the better fit because of his strength.
What do you think?
Traj
April 5th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Nelson in the HOF? No way. He has brought dysfunction to every place he’s been from the Knicks to Mavs to Warriors (twice).
He preaches a track meet style system that completely ignores defense. But defense is 50% of the game and he either doesn’t know how to teach it or doesn’t care enough about it to bother. Either way, that’s not the makings of a Hall of Fame coach. If this was the NFL and he was an Offensive Coordinator he could go to the Hall but as a HC he’s middle of the pack at best.
I Wish Mullin could get in though.
April 5th, 2009 at 11:46 am
When we’re pitched Keith Smart as the replacement b/c he’s basically free while we still pay the drunken Nellie in Maui…
We’ll know to cut the cord with Cohan’s Warriors for good. Right?
April 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
If Nelson gets in, its not the Hall of Fame, but the Hall of man I coached a lot of years and games..It would be a travesty to put Nelson in..How can you put any coach in the Hall of Fame, who never even made it to a final?? He and Jerry Sloan don’t deserve the Hall unless they win a ring before they retire..
Mully will get in and should..
April 5th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Hey Nellie,
Can anyone with a straight face say that Nelson coached like a hall of famer this year??? The thought of this guy with Oscar, Jerry, Kareem,
and Wilt, makes me want to puke..If he gets in, rename it the Hall of Mediocrity..
This guy never coached half the game, hey Don its called DEFENSE..Nothing but a gimmick coach that nobody that wins rings ever took seriously..
April 5th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
“Neither won a title” – Nellie has what, four or five rings as a player? So that statement is incorrect.
Efren, in addition to Jim Petersen, Tom Tolbert (like many of Nellie’s players) has only good things to say about him. Crawford and Harrington… eh, yeah those guys will be in the Hall for sure. EVERY team would love to have those two winners (and anyway, similarly Crawful has had only good things to say about Nellie).
Obviously Nellie raises the ire of what I would consider short-memoried fans… but regardless, a Hall with Dickie V. and no Nellie is a sham. A sham that will be fixed in time, no question, but still a sham.
April 5th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
A couple more 50-loss seasons and Nellie can be the All-Time losingest coach in NBA history.
HOF material.
April 5th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Tolbert has been ripping Nellie on air all month.
Some of you need to check your moronic team PR work at the door and stick to the UC PR gig.
April 5th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Nelson won a title as a player.
April 6th, 2009 at 1:37 am
all you clowns cant take away his winning years with the bucks. you clowns cant take away the upset wins over the jazz in 89, spurs in 91 and the mavs in 07. you guys are just gay haters and upset because the warriors are not winning this year.
April 6th, 2009 at 9:04 am
If I read it correctly, a coach’s credentials as a player does not factor into his nomination as a coach for the Hall of Fame. Which is why the likes of Lenny Wilkens are in as a player and a coach
April 6th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Oooops … Gotta keep the grammar police off my back “a coach’s credentials as a player DO NOT factor into …”
April 6th, 2009 at 11:18 am
This is the Basketball Hall of Fame and not the NBA Hall of Fame. Mullin and Nelson deserve to be in it, but i guess not this year.
April 7th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Did Nelson have more talent than the Jazz teams with Malone and Stockton? Don’t think so. When Nellie had talent in the city of Beer he was going up against some of the best teams ever, Boston and Philly of the 80′s. Sloan and his Jazz would have lost to those teams by 50 points a night in four games, Nellie fought them toe to toe with less talent. The games were epic and should be on ESPN classic instead of all that M Jordan BS.