Ten NBA types who deserve inclusion in Hall of Fame

Adrian Dantley's prolific scoring hasn't been enough to earn him a Hall of Fame spot. Manny Millan/SI

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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is the duck-billed platypus of sports' great shrines, a little-of-this, little-of-that place -- the organization, by the way, not the state-of-the-art facility in Springfield, Mass. -- designed by committee. As a result, it has too little of some very deserving potential members.

Buncha cooks, one spoiled broth.

Established in 1959, the basketball Hall tries to be all-inclusive, honoring coaches, players, referees and contributors from the professional, collegiate and international ranks, including both men and women. In that process of being all things to all hoopsters, though, it excludes some pretty worthy names.

There is room for Sandro Gamba in the Hall, but so far, not Adrian Dantley. Van Chancellor got in, even though Don Nelson did not. Drazen Petrovic is in, Bernard King is out.

(Pause for head scratching.)

One problem, obviously, is this unwieldy attempt to honor all levels of basketball under one roof, rather than divvying up the acclaim at least between professional and amateur shrines or letting the NBA peel off for its own glittery, multimedia showplace on Fifth Avenue, strategically located adjacent to its NBA Store. Better yet, because the college, women's and international games also have specific halls or museums, commissioner David Stern ought to commandeer the building in Springfield.

It doesn't help that there aren't any statistical standards, or "milestone'' thresholds, that will assure enshrinement; every selection is subjective. And that is made worse by the process itself, a relative star chamber compared with baseball's imperfect but essentially democratic approach to ushering its biggest names into Cooperstown.

In basketball, a secret and frequently changing committee of 24 voters massages a list of candidates through more steps than the moon has phases; the rules of enshrinement require intensive scrolling on the Hall's Web site. They even send possible nominees into limbo for five years if the process doesn't smile their way sufficiently, an enforced waiting game that works great if you want more posthumous selections.

Enough. No one person, with the possible exception of Stern, can correct all of the flaws associated with the basketball Hall. What I can do is remind whoever it is that will be a part of future voting, whenever they get around to it for the Class of 2008 or beyond (the finalists for this year won't be announced until next month), that a bunch of deserving people have been neglected.

Miami Heat coach Pat Riley (having met the 25-year eligibility rule for active coaches) and centers Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing (five years after their final seasons) should be no-brainer selections this year. Limiting our list to those with NBA qualifications, here are 10 more (in no particular order) to consider:

1. Adrian Dantley

Dantley is the Jim Rice of basketball, a powerful offensive force who dominated his sport like few others for a period of six season or so. His best years came with Utah from 1979 to 1986, but the burly low-post scorer from Notre Dame played for seven teams in 15 seasons. He averaged 24.3 points per game, topped 30.0 points for four consecutive seasons and won two NBA scoring titles. Everyone ahead of him in career scoring average is either in the Hall or will be once eligible, along with many behind him.

"He could get out to 15 feet. He could take it to the basket. And he could get off his shots against taller guys, in traffic,'' said Miami assistant coach Bob McAdoo, a Hall of Famer who played with Dantley in Buffalo in 1976-77 and against him the rest of McAdoo's career. "He was so strong, he'd just muscle guys. He should be in.''

Another Hall of Famer, Bill Walton, put it more hyperbolically not long ago, calling Dantley's omission "one of the most egregious errors in the history of basketball.''

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