I grew up in Mass. and now I live in NH. I have made med school stops along the way in the bay area, CA and various other "travel-to" locations.
Does he get the same love elsewhere? Stats are Stats. He has averaged 22 ppg, 6 rpg, 4 apg, 1.5 steals pg throughout his career. I am not sure how that compares to other HOFers but I also don't really believe in comparing different generations because as basketball evolves so to do the players.
Personally, I think that he is. I also live in a highly jaded area of the country. I thought he was a HOFer before the championship too so that should tell you how jaded I am.
I understand he doesn't get the hobby love that I feel he deserves(neither does Tim Duncan, who I personally think is the best or second-best PF to have played the game in my lifetime). I think the further you remove yourself from the northeast corridor the less likely you are to believe that Pierce is a HOFer.
Thoughts? Opinions?
obvious HOF'er. that being said, the standards for getting into springfield are lower than other HOF's
Springfield is much lower than Canton which is much lower than Cooperstown. Not sure about Hockey HOF or its location. In baseball you need to be flat out dominant for a short while or highly productive and consistant through a career. Basketball HOF is not so much. I mean, I don't put him as a Top 50 in NBA history guy...he just isn't but HOF I believe he is worthy.
Springfield is much lower than Canton which is much lower than Cooperstown. Not sure about Hockey HOF or its location. In baseball you need to be flat out dominant for a short while or highly productive and consistant through a career. Basketball HOF is not so much. I mean, I don't put him as a Top 50 in NBA history guy...he just isn't but HOF I believe he is worthy.
Paul Pierce has been undervalued his entire NBA career. He's a guy who was projected to be picked in the top three of the 1998 NBA Draft before falling to the Celtics at No. 10. Since then, he's been a star in a league full of superstars. He's a guy who's been to seven All-Star games, but hasn't been voted into any of them by the fans. He's not a muscular, explosive high-riser with marketing deals coming out of his you-know-what like LeBron James. He's not a scoring machine who has helped transform a baller's wardrobe, hairstyle, and way of life like Allen Iverson. He's not a high-profile force that shines bright in a town full of movie stars like Kobe Bryant. Paul Pierce isn't any of those things. He's just a basketball player. He's a player who has spent his entire career as the captain of one of the most decorated franchises in professional sports. He's one of the best closers in the game today. He's an NBA champion. Shaq put everyone on alert early. Paul Pierce is The Truth. And the truth is, Paul Pierce deserves to go to the Hall of Fame.
(03-05-2013, 09:36 AM)The_Zodiac_Collection Wrote: [ -> ]Paul Pierce has been undervalued his entire NBA career. He's a guy who was projected to be picked in the top three of the 1998 NBA Draft before falling to the Celtics at No. 10. Since then, he's been a star in a league full of superstars. He's a guy who's been to seven All-Star games, but hasn't been voted into any of them by the fans. He's not a muscular, explosive high-riser with marketing deals coming out of his you-know-what like LeBron James. He's not a scoring machine who has helped transform a baller's wardrobe, hairstyle, and way of life like Allen Iverson. He's not a high-profile force that shines bright in a town full of movie stars like Kobe Bryant. Paul Pierce isn't any of those things. He's just a basketball player. He's a player who has spent his entire career as the captain of one of the most decorated franchises in professional sports. He's one of the best closers in the game today. He's an NBA champion. Shaq put everyone on alert early. Paul Pierce is The Truth. And the truth is, Paul Pierce deserves to go to the Hall of Fame.
BleacherReport, right?
Paul Pierce definately gets in.
As far as standards being lower, I am not sure I would agree. First off baseball and football have a ton more players to consider.
NFL has at maximum 1696 active players every year.
MLB has at maximum 1200 active players every year. (including minor league)
NBA has at maximum only 450 active players every year.
NFL drafts 7 rounds of 32 players for 224 players every year
MLB drafts 40 rounds of 30 players for about 1200 players every year
NBA drafts 2 rounds of 30 players for a total of 60 every year. (pre 1990 there also used to be more rounds and about 160 players were drafted each year)
As you can see there is quite a big difference in the number of players involved in basketball compared to NFL or MLB.
I'm not a Celtics fan, and I disliked Pierce's early career demeanor - his stats never suffered but it seemed like he gave up/didn't care in a lot of games. Maybe his personality was just more akin to Sam Perkins than to Jordan, idk.
I'm still not a fan of his but I can't deny what he does. I give him props and believe he has been a pretty solid model of not just consistency, but highly valuable consistency. I mean you average 3.3 ppg, 3.3 apg, 1.1 rpg for your 10 year career and nobody would argue your consistency but you're not likely considered highly valuable. Pierce's numbers are a tad better than that
Combine his solid contributions with the fact he's been with one team his entire career and I'd say he's in.
I'd have to say no doubt he's in! 1 championship can really make a difference and he was the Finals MVP when they won it as well. 10 x All Star and the big one 1x 3 point shootout champion! LOL Also by the time he retires he'll likely be in the top 15 in scoring which it seems that reaching the top 20 is a good enough reason to be in the HOF as all are who are eligible.
(03-05-2013, 01:46 PM)hof collector 15 Wrote: [ -> ]Also by the time he retires he'll likely be in the top 15 in scoring which it seems that reaching the top 20 is a good enough reason to be in the HOF as all are who are eligible.
I think we have more than 20 players in the HOF last time I checked and not all of them can be in the top 20 in scoring.
Maybe I misunderstood your meaning there.