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NBA: 50 greatest players who aren’t in the Basketball Hall of Fame

By Maxwell Ogden

AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Piston celebrates with the fans after the Pistons defeated the Lakers 100-87 to win the 2004 NBA championship final, in Auburn Hills, MI, 15 June 2004. The Pistons won the best-of-seven NBA championship series 5-1 and Billups was the series MVP. AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Piston celebrates with the fans after the Pistons defeated the Lakers 100-87 to win the 2004 NBA championship final, in Auburn Hills, MI, 15 June 2004. The Pistons won the best-of-seven NBA championship series 5-1 and Billups was the series MVP. AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Indiana Pacers great Jermaine O'Neal
(Photo by: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

50 greatest players who aren’t in the Basketball Hall of Fame: 35. Jermaine O’Neal

It’s easy to forget how many accolades Jermaine O’Neal was able to accumulate before the injuries caught up to him. He had a sustained period of renown, played a rather significant amount of postseason basketball, and was even the go-to scorer on a 60-win team.

Most would likely agree that O’Neal misses the cut for the Hall of Fame, but he’s closer than one might presume.

O’Neal made six All-Star Game appearances, which is tied for the second-most amongst eligible players who are not in the Hall of Fame. He was also named All-NBA in three different seasons, including a career-defining rise to prominence in 2003-04.

O’Neal was named All-NBA Second Team that season and actually finished third in MVP voting behind fellow power forwards Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.

In other words: Had Garnett and Duncan not been No. 1 and No. 2 in MVP voting, O’Neal would’ve been All-NBA First Team.

O’Neal finished that season with team-best averages of 20.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game as the Indiana Pacers went 61-21 and reached the Eastern Conference Finals. It was just one season in his string of six straight years of star-level play.

Between 2001-02 and 2006-07, O’Neal averaged 20.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.4 blocks per game while helping Indiana make the Playoffs in all but one of those seasons.

In turn, O’Neal ranks No. 1 in Pacers history in blocks, No. 5 in scoring, and No. 6 in rebounding despite ranking outside of the top 10 in franchise history in games played.

Injuries prevented O’Neal from realizing his true potential, but 97 games of postseason experience, including his 72 games started, further prove how great he could’ve been.