Scottie Pippen and Karl Malone will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer with the official announcement coming on Monday.  Pippen and Malone are well beyond deserving of their Hall of Fame induction.  Scottie Pippen has always lived in Michael Jordan’s shadow and fortunately for him he won the same 6 NBA Championships that Jordan did.  Karl Malone will definitely go down as one of the top 50 NBA players of all-time and he NEVER won a championship, but he is 2nd all-time in points scored.

Like I said, Scottie Pippen was always in the shadow of Jordan but at the same time it was always “Jordan and Pippen”. Call me crazy but I don’t think Jordon, as great as he is, would have won 6 championships without Pippen.  Pippen is another top 50 NBA player of all-time.  For his career he averaged 16.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 5.2 apg and 2.0 spg.  The most underatted thing about Pippen was his defense; he was a lock down defender and that is what wins championships.  The defensive combo of Pippen and Jordon was unstoppable, obviously, time and time again.

Karl Malone is the guy who never aged.  He came into the league at 22 years old and didn’t stop playing until he was 40.  If you look at a year by year breakdown of his seasons it’s quite astonishing how at 39 years old he is still playing 36 mpg and averaging 20 ppg and 8 rpg.  For his 18 year career he averaged 25 ppg and just over 10 rpg with great consistency.  Each season you knew what you were getting with Karl Marlone: 23-28 ppg and 8-11 rpg… oh and a near guaranteed playoff loss.  I don’t want to take anything away from Malone but him and Stockton may be the two best players on the same team to never win an NBA Championship.  But those are the breaks when you play during “the Jordan years.”  Malone is 2nd all time in points scored and 6th all time in the NBA in total rebounds.  He was the MVP of the All-Star game in ’88-89 and ’92-93 as well as the NBA MVP in ’96-97 and ’98-99.

Former Celtic legend Dennis Johnson and legendary HS basketball coach Bob Hurley Sr. will also be inducted.  He has won 24 state titles in NJ over his career.

Congrats to these great players and coach Hurley.

-The Basher