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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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Shawn Marion
Shawn Marion, Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

50 greatest players who aren’t in the Basketball Hall of Fame: 7. Shawn Marion

If one were to look strictly at the statistics, then it would be hard to argue against Shawn Marion being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 17,700 points, 10,101 rebounds, 2,198 assists, 1,759 steals, and 1,233 blocks.

He’s also the only player in NBA history to record at least 150 blocks and 100 steals in four consecutive seasons.

Throw in his tremendous defensive performances in the 2011 NBA Finals against LeBron James, the entirety of his Phoenix Suns run, and his underrated performance in 2012 against Kevin Durant, and Marion has quite a case.

Whether or not he’s in the Hall of Fame, Marion pieced together a career that puts him in rare territory amongst wing players. He played 16 years in the Association, won a championship with the Dallas Mavericks, and earned two All-NBA and four All-Star nods along the way.

Marion also played a featured role on three different teams that reached the Conference Finals, including 2005, when he scored 38 points to close out Dallas in Round 2. In 2006, he had 30-point games in four of the final five games of a seven-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Simply put: Marion produced big numbers in the regular season and routinely stepped up in the Playoffs.

Productive on both ends of the floor, Marion played winning basketball for the vast majority of his career. He appeared in 109 playoff games, starting 103, and was a walking double-double with better range than his oft-maligned shooting form should’ve permitted.

Between 2000 and 2008, Marion averaged 18.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.4 blocks, and 1.0 three-point field goals made per game on a slash line of .481/.343/.820.

His five-year peak, between 2001-02 and 2005-06: 20.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.3 blocks, 1.2 three-point field goals made per contest on .472/.354/.837 shooting.