[HitsterParticipant]

I see the 2008 Olympic Team are going in the HoF as well as Melo and Dwight Howard. It does seem stupid that LBJ cannot go in yet but guys like Howard whose career started after him can do so. It almost punishes the longevity of guys like LBJ, CP3 etc.

I’d quite like to see active players go in maybe one or two maximum. They’d have to be over 35 years old although you could argue Giannis, Jokic, AD etc are already locks. But one active guy who has turned 35 before he is inducted would seem fair or you say guys can go in the year after they retire. Kobe sadly didn’t live to see his induction due to the rules.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

It does show how good LeBron and CP3 have been over the years though. Melo is a HOF guy, but he’ll always be remembered to me as a guy that didn’t maximize his potential despite being a star. Howard is another HOF guy who made it… His finals appearance when he topped LeBron to fall short to the Lakers was his most impressive days… I think he could still be a backup 5 today. Jaxson Hayes isn’t better than him for example… but his best days are long gone.

[HitsterParticipant]

Melo for scoring 28k plus points and being in the top 10 all time NBA regularseason scorers is a sure fire HoF guy regardless of any jokes I’ve made about his season often ending in April. He could easily have had titles if he had been drafted by Detroit or Miami in that famed 2003 dtaft. Wanting to be the Knicks saviour didn’t help his title chances eitrher.

D12 likewise deserves to be in HoF and could have played on if he had wanted to. But he got his title so was probably happy to step back.

[OhCanada-Participant]

The Melo hate is crazy. Hes one of the best to ever do it. Kinda falls in the Charles Barkley category now but in his prime he played for two teams Denver and New York. Even when he wanted out of Denver it wasnt a situation where he quit on his team or tried to slack his way out the Nuggets won 50 wins both of those seasons and he told them in advance he wasn’t signing the extension which ultimately got them a boatload of picks WHICH LED TO A CHAMPIONSHIP! They literally won a Championship because Melo didnt screw them over. If that was Harden, KD, PG, Kawhi, Irving they would be absolutely screwed.

Made the playoffs his 1st 10 seasons in a row, the only reason why the Knicks project failed is because he was honest to the Nuggets in the first place or else they wouldve had more assets to build around him. Then he gets forced out of the NBA whi;e still averaging 13 points per game same way they did Iverson. The media really played people the wrong way with Anthony. The whole “lack of defense” thing is riduclous to. You know how many times a game Lebron gives up on plays to save energy. Diffence is Melo didnt hide it.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I’m not saying I hate Melo, but what I mean by maximize potential is that I remember a point when I thought Melo should be better than Harden and it never happened from that point on because Melo couldn’t play quite like Harden… He should have, just like Shaq should be the greatest of all time had he maximized his. Melo was a fine teammate though, just not quite the title guy – like Barkley…

[HitsterParticipant]

I liked Melo as a player and any jokes about not winning many play off series are just that jokes. Denver were always watching the luxury tax around him with Camby being traded after being DPoY, giving up on AI etc. Also Nene and K-Mart had significant injuries during Melo’s time at Denver which didn’t help their contending chances.

I’m not sure the Melo trade led to Denver being a title winner in the modern era.

Melo never had the right mix of guys around him to be on a real contending team either.

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