Please help me deliver justice.

[NiceCatch]

I'd like to start a petition to have Bill Walton removed from the NBA Hall of Fame. Does anyone know how I could go about doing this?

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to start a petition to have Bill Walton removed from the NBA Hall of Fame. Does anyone know how I could go about doing this?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea, but I will definately sign it!

[Terrabon98]

Finally...tell me where to sign

[Mr. Zero]

I think the more pressing issue is getting a petition together to get him to stop announcing games.

[NiceCatch]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the more pressing issue is getting a petition together to get him to stop announcing games.

[/ QUOTE ]

First things first. At least he's not doing the finals this year.

[kerssens]

Coincidentally, 10 minutes ago my friend was just telling me that he saw Bill Walton at a Circle K in Flagstaff, AZ last year.

[NiceCatch]

Below is an e-mail that I just sent to Mr. John Doleva at the Hoop Hall of Fame, which I believe is the official sanctioning body of the NBA HoF. For your pleasure:

Mr. Doleva,
I am writing to inquire about the rules of induction
and removal from the Basketball Hall of Fame. I'm
specifically interested in understanding the
nomination process for removal from the Hall, and what
it would take to get the wheels rolling on the
process.

There is a specific player that I have in mind that I,
as well as many avid basketball fans with whom I have
corresponded, believe to fall well short of being
worthy of the Hall. I would prefer not to reveal his
identity at this point, however I will when the time
is appropriate. I will say, however, that after
looking at his career statistics and analyzing his
impact on the NBA as a professional basketball player,
I was quite surprised that the venerable Hall voters
elected him. I think there must have been some type
of mistake. I would like to volunteer my full support
to whatever course of action is necessary to correct
this unfortunate error.

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing
from you.

Sincerely,
[NiceCatch]

I think this is a good start. After he reveals to me the process, I will start an online petition, and attempt to garner support from the masses. I really think we have a good shot here.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that Mr. Doleva is the President & CEO of the HoopHall.

[NiceCatch]

[ QUOTE ]
Coincidentally, 10 minutes ago my friend was just telling me that he saw Bill Walton at a Circle K in Flagstaff, AZ last year.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's great. He seems like a good guy. Would you and your friend be willing to sign the petition?

[kerssens]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Coincidentally, 10 minutes ago my friend was just telling me that he saw Bill Walton at a Circle K in Flagstaff, AZ last year.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's great. He seems like a good guy. Would you and your friend be willing to sign the petition?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm neutral and would be very surprised if there was any way to accomplish your goal. Good luck to you though.

[Mr. Zero]

[ QUOTE ]
I really think we have a good shot here.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are incorrect. But the cause is noble, and I wish you luck.

[NiceCatch]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm neutral and would be very surprised if there was any way to accomplish your goal. Good luck to you though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doing the right thing isn't always easy, but you have to try. I plan to fully support my argument for Walton's removal in my online petition, and here are some of the facts I will submit in it. If you feel that any of my evidence weakens my case, please let me know. I want to have my case honed and precise when it goes into the petition. Among his dubious distinctions, Walton:
-Never average more than 20 points in a season.
-Played less than 500 games in the NBA; that amounts to only 6 full seasons.
-Played the following number of games, season by season (keep in mind a full season is 82 games): 35, 51, 65, 58, 14, 33, 55, 67, 80, 10.
-Averaged more than 15 points per game in only 3 seasons.
-Had roughly an equal number of turnovers as assists over the course of his career.
-Shot only 66% from the free throw line.
-Never made a three-pointer.

Any commentary would be greatly appreciated.

[IndieMatty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to start a petition to have Bill Walton removed from the NBA Hall of Fame. Does anyone know how I could go about doing this?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea, but I will definately sign it!

[/ QUOTE ]

[J_B]

http://www.petitiononline.com/petition.html

Make one!

[NiceCatch]

Thank you for the link, I will do just that. I would like to get reply from Mr. Doleva first. If anyone on OOT has anymore legitimate reasons to have Walton removed from the hall, please post them. If they are convincing, I will include them in my petition.

[Phoenix1010]

Awesome.

[Punker]

[ QUOTE ]
I will say, however, that after
looking at his career statistics and analyzing his
impact on the NBA as a professional basketball player,
I was quite surprised that the venerable Hall voters
elected him.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would agree with you regarding the stats, but not on his impact on the league.

[NiceCatch]

[ QUOTE ]
I would agree with you regarding the stats, but not on his impact on the league.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please elaborate. I find it difficult to believe he could have had such an impact on the league in as a short a time as he played. There is only one Gale Sayers, after all.

[CallMeIshmael]

I know very little about basketball. Either current or historic.

I've read the stats provided, and clearly, they arent impressive.

Why did he get in, in the first place?

(also... wasnt he mentioned in the 'most dominating athlete' thread?)

[somethingstupid]

nitroglycerin

[Phoenix1010]

[ QUOTE ]
I know very little about basketball. Either current or historic.

I've read the stats provided, and clearly, they arent impressive.

Why did he get in, in the first place?

(also... wasnt he mentioned in the 'most dominating athlete' thread?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Cuz he's white /images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[NiceCatch]

[ QUOTE ]
Why did he get in, in the first place?

(also... wasnt he mentioned in the 'most dominating athlete' thread?)

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not completely sure how he got into the Hall. He won two championships, one with Portland early in his career, and one later on in his career with the Celtics (he was not a starter at this point). My hunch is that he got in mainly based on his reputation as one of the greatest college players in history (which he was, by most definitions). However, college success should not get one into the professional Hall of Fame.

[Bulldog]

It's not the PROFESSIONAL Basketball Hall of Fame, it's the Basketball Hall of Fame. I despise Walton as an announcer, but there is no question about his HoF cred.

[pudley4]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to start a petition to have Bill Walton removed from the NBA Hall of Fame. Does anyone know how I could go about doing this?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not just the NBA Hall of Fame, it's the Basketball Hall of Fame (which is why there are women and foreign players who never played in the NBA, as well as college coaches).

Walton absolutely deserves to be in based on his collegiate career (he's a top-10 all-time college player.)

[hoopsie44]

You're right. The reason he's in is based on his college career. Same with Bill Bradley. Great college player at Princeton. A good player at best with the NY Knicks.

[hoopsie44]

Take him out of the basketball hall of fame and induct him into the rock and roll hall of fame as an honorary deadhead.

[West]

At his peak in the NBA, Walton was a bit better than "a good player at best". And he was beset by injuries from the moment he entered the league.

[trying2learn]

No one argues he was one of the greatest college players ever, period. He won two titles in the NBA. These things are all stated here - add those things along with the fact that it's the basketball hall of fame - and you have a ludicrous petition and cause.

he is bad at doing color - but he's bad in that howard stern way that even his largest critics always have something to say about him even if it's bad...and that makes for good broadcasting.

[hoopsie44]

I'm not comparing Bradley and Walton. And being injury prone isn't a criterion for getting in the hall of fame.

[West]

Of course you were comparing them.

Obviously Walton had a stellar college career, but that isn't the only reason he's in the hall of fame. I mentioned his injuries to give context to his NBA career (which included leading Portland to an NBA championship, and being named league MVP the following year).

[West]

Here is a list of NBA MVP winners from when they apparently were first handed out (1955-56):

1955-56 - Bob Pettit, St. Louis
1956-57 - Bob Cousy, Boston
1957-58 - Bill Russell, Boston
1958-59 - Bob Pettit, St. Louis
1959-60 - Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1960-61 - Bill Russell, Boston
1961-62 - Bill Russell, Boston
1962-63 - Bill Russell, Boston
1963-64 - Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
1964-65 - Bill Russell, Boston
1965-66 - Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1966-67 - Wilt Chamberlain, Phildadelphia
1967-68 - Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1968-69 - Wes Unseld, Baltimore
1969-70 - Willis Reed, New York
1970-71 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1971-72 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1972-73 - Dave Cowens, Boston
1973-74 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1974-75 - Bob McAdoo, Buffalo
1975-76 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1976-77 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1977-78 - Bill Walton, Portland
1978-79 - Moses Malone, Houston
1979-80 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1980-81 - Julius Erving, Philadelphia
1981-82 - Moses Malone, Houston
1982-83 - Moses Malone, Philadelphia
1983-84 - Larry Bird, Boston
1984-85 - Larry Bird, Boston
1985-86 - Larry Bird, Boston
1986-87 - Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
1987-88 - Michael Jordan, Chicago
1988-89 - Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
1989-90 - Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
1990-91 - Michael Jordan, Chicago
1991-92 - Michael Jordan, Chicago
1992-93 - Charles Barkley, Phoenix
1993-94 - Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston
1994-95 - David Robinson, San Antonio
1995-96 - Michael Jordan, Chicago
1996-97 - Karl Malone, Utah
1997-98 - Michael Jordan, Chicago
1998-99 - Karl Malone, Utah
1999-00 - Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers
2000-01 - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
2001-02 - Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2002-03 - Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2003-04 - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota

Here is a list of players on the above list who are NOT in the Hall of Fame, AND who have been eligible to be elected in the past:




.

[The Armchair]

Are you willing to vote to enshrine Steve Nash if he retired today?

[Weatherhead03]

Finally!!

[trying2learn]

[ QUOTE ]
Are you willing to vote to enshrine Steve Nash if he retired today?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would say he's closer than you are insinuating. Probably not yet, but he's been a helluva player, and since we've already established that the basketball hall of fame includes college achievement - we need to remember that he was the leader of the Santa Clara team that provided one of the greatest (if not the greatest) tournament upsets ever over 2 seed (arguably a 1 that year) Arizona.

I remember this vividly as I had just been accepted to go to school at UofA the next fall.

[RicktheRuler]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to start a petition to have Bill Walton removed from the NBA Hall of Fame. Does anyone know how I could go about doing this?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll do this since Clarkmeister had to point this out in a different thread. Is is the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA hall of fame. How do you think all those college coaches got in there. Bill Walton was a phenomenol basketball player in college and if it were not for a pro career plagued with injuries Im sure you would look at him in a different light.

[RicktheRuler]

There is no NBA hall of fame.

[RicktheRuler]

[ QUOTE ]
Please elaborate. I find it difficult to believe he could have had such an impact on the league in as a short a time as he played. There is only one Gale Sayers, after all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jim Brown, Bo Jackson. There are more.

[RicktheRuler]

[ QUOTE ]
At his peak in the NBA, Walton was a bit better than "a good player at best". And he was beset by injuries from the moment he entered the league.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is just not true. Do you guys just make this stuff up.

[hoopsie44]

Bo Jackson shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as Jim Brown. Bo played 4 years and rushed for less than 3000 yards. Brown is the best football player ever.

[Brian]

I think the more important petition is the one to get a Sports forum added on to 2+2. Anyone else get tricked into clicking on this thread due to its subject line? I was hoping for a story about drugs/stealing/rape/etc. and a question about how to seek vengence... /images/graemlins/grin.gif

-Brian

[NiceCatch]

[ QUOTE ]
There is no NBA hall of fame.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are all indeed correct. And I realize that Walton had a spectacular college career. As I mentioned earlier, I believe him to be one of the top-5 or top-10 college players of all time.

I hereby have decided to abandon my efforts to have Walton removed from the Basketball Hall of Fame. Based on his college career, and his decent NBA career, I would have to say he is worthy of the Hall.

Now someone explain to me how the heck Walton won an MVP playing less than 70 games??? Was the talent in the NBA that year that bad? Wasn't Dr J playing? How about Kareem? Hmmm...

[West]

I don't know exactly, but I did read that Portland started the year 50-10 (after winning the championship the previous year), and Walton was putting up great numbers. The article that I read this in said they finished 58-24. It wasn't clear whether the crash and burn occured while Walton was injured, but if it did, you could see how he won the MVP.

[West]

No, I'm not making stuff up, what I said was true.

What part don't you think is true??