[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

My first thought would be absolutely not. His prime was too short and he had too many weaknesses even at his absolute best to ever be truly dominant. However, after doing research and crunching some numbers, I actually think he not only has a decent chance to get in but probably eventually should, regardless of what happens for the rest of his career. I know most of you will probably disagree with me here, but let me at least make the argument.

When I examine a player’s Hall of Fame chances, the first thing I do is compare their career to players who are already in the Hall of Fame. When looking at Rondo’s candidacy, the name that immediately stands out is Maurice Cheeks, who was recently inducted in 2018. So the precedent has already been set that Cheeks is a Hall of Famer. During his career, Cheeks was a member of one championship team (as a very important piece but clearly not the best player). He made 4 all star teams, 4 all-defensive first teams and one second team. He never led the league in any significant statistical category and never made an All-NBA team. Rondo on the other hand, has also been a member of one championship team thus far (as an important piece but clearly not the best player). He made 4 All-Star teams, one All-NBA third team (2012), 2 All-Defensive first teams, 2 All-Defensive second teams. He led the NBA in assists per game three times and steals once. Like Cheeks, he has been a clutch performer throughout his career whose numbers always jumped significantly in the playoffs. So I think that if Cheeks is a Hall of Famer, you can easily make the case that Rondo should be as well.

There are other players currently in the Hall whom Rondo’s resume probably outranks, but Cheeks is just the example I’m using here because there are so many similarities. I know some of you would probably say that Cheeks doesn’t really deserve to be a Hall of Famer. However, that is a moot point because it has already been decided by those who have the actual power to vote. I know it took Cheeks a while to get in, and it should probably take Rondo a while as well. He is by no means anywhere close to a slam dunk case. I also realize that he has burned some bridges throughout his career and has a reputation in some circles of the league that might not help him. Perception is important and can be the deciding factor in a borderline case. His ugly departure in Dallas and homophobic slur against a referee will likely hurt him. But if you just look at the numbers and accomplishments, Rondo has a pretty good case I believe, and he could strengthen it even more with another strong playoff performance or 2 and possibly another ring.

[armchairgmParticipant]

No to me. He has been in the league 14 years and was along the top 10-15 players in the league for only about 4 of those years, which is only about 30% of his career. Again like I say with a lot of these it is the Hall of FAME not the Hall of GOOD.

[BKGingerSnapParticipant]

Put him in the hall of fame. As you said, if Mo cheeks is in the hall of fame, then Rondo should make it someday as well. Although Rondo has always had always been a bad to below average jump shooter, flamed out in Dallas, and was never really the same after the ACL tear, his basketball IQ and ability to get the best out of elite big men is truly special. Whether playing with KG, AD, or Cousins, Rondo found a way to play with them and get the best out of them. Even today, Rondo still makes impact plays on both ends of the floor which is very rare for an older point guard. Rondo entered the league as an incredibly unique talent and turned into one of the league’s great competitors. He gets my vote.

[BKGingerSnapParticipant]

Put him in the hall of fame. As you said, if Mo cheeks is in the hall of fame, then Rondo should make it someday as well. Although Rondo has always had always been a bad to below average jump shooter, flamed out in Dallas, and was never really the same after the ACL tear, his basketball IQ and ability to get the best out of elite big men is truly special. Whether playing with KG, AD, or Cousins, Rondo found a way to play with them and get the best out of them. Even today, Rondo still makes impact plays on both ends of the floor which is very rare for an older point guard. Rondo entered the league as an incredibly unique talent and turned into one of the league’s great competitors. He gets my vote.

[canadabasketballisrisingParticipant]

Not to me. Player like Chris Webber still are not in. He had a good career, but not better than Webber.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Still wondering who he pissed off to not be in the hof.

[armchairgmParticipant]

Webber is borderline to be he is another guy based off just NBA doesn’t get in for me. He played 14 years was only an All Star 5 times and 1st Team All NBA once. So again another guy that was a Top 15 or so player for only 1/3 of his career. Where Webber becomes more of a HOF guy to me and gets the push to get in is when you add in his college and high school accomplishments since this is the basketball HOF.

[Scrooge McDuckParticipant]

He’ll get in. The fact he couldn’t shoot may improve his chances. He ran an offense perfectly, played tough defense. He’s 15th all time in assists. Some of the injuries he played through are legendary. He literally played playoff games with one arm!

[sniperParticipant]

First of all, I would rank Cheeks higher than Rondo among all-time point guards. Cheeks had a longer peak (10 years vs. 5-6 for Rondo), didn’t fight with coaches and teammates, and didn’t have the glaring weakness (shooting) that caused Rondo to sometimes hurt his teams. Rondo was by far the better rebounder; they were both elite defenders and playmakers. People talk about Rondo’s passing/playmaking, and he is great, but it stood out in part because he played in an era of shoot-first PGs. Those skills were just part of the job description for PGs of Cheeks’ era.

Rondo is one of the all-time great playoff overachievers. In that respect I compare him to Horry. But like Horry he never dominated over full seasons the way I think an HoFer should. Was there ever a season when you thought Rondo was a top-three point guard?

If he somehow comes up with a couple more vintage “Playoff Rondo” performances — where he’s pretty much the best PG in the playoffs and his team goes at least to the conference finals — then the discussion gets interesting. But that seems unlikely considering his age and the limited minutes he currently plays with the Lakers.

[holefillers1Participant]

Rondo did all his damage on a championship team playing with three sure fire hall of famers. He wasn’t able to carry that to other teams. Just because cheeks got in doesn’t mean Rondo should. Compare him to his contemporaries. If you do that and still put him in the hall then about 8 other PG’s go in as well. To much for one era

[OhCanada-Participant]

Other than Iverson I’ve never seen a 6’0 guy dominate a game the way playoff Rondo would with the Celtics. Those were some of the most amazing individual performances I’ve watched live and to me he’s clearly a hall of famer. Forget about stats this guys a baller and should be honored.

[CynthiaParticipant]

Agreed. He may of been on a team with 3 future Hall of Famers, but he was clearly the leader of that team, which should definitely say something. He is one of the best passers and defenders of all time at the PG. We all know stats don’t do justice for defensive and high IQ players, but the fact is his stats are solid as well so he passes both the eye test and the stat test.

Yeah he’s kind of a d*ck, but that shouldn’t be factored in here. This is the NBA HOF not a personality contest. Hell Michael Jordan was probably the biggest Ahole in all of NBA history yet most still see him as the Goat, because at the end of the day, fans only care about ball skills and Rondo is easily A-Tier.

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