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CONCLUSION:

#16

Who’s keeping Dennis Rodman and Peter Vecsey out of the Basketball Hall of Fame?

Many of the conspiracy theories presented in this book have been talked about—or at least whispered about—for years. Permit me to add my own to the mix which, like most good conspiracy theories, cannot be proven. I believe that there is a conspiracy keeping some worthy men out of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The election process for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame dictates that a player must be fully retired for five years before becoming eligible for enshrinement. But non-players (i.e., coaches and contributors) can be elected at any time. Four screening committees (one for North American players, one for women, one for veterans, and one for international players) review and recommend individuals to be reviewed for enshrinement by the Honors Committee. To advance to the Honors Committee, an individual must have a certain number of yes votes from the Screening Committee (North American players need at least seven of nine). The Screening Committee may put forth as many as ten North American players per year to the Honors Committee.

There are twenty-four people on each of the four Honors Committees. The names of these people are not made public, but we are told they are comprised of Hall of Famers, members of the media, basketball executives, and other contributors to the game. Twelve of the twenty-four people sit on all four committees, and a person needs a minimum of eighteen votes from an Honors Committee to be enshrined.

It’s not as difficult as it sounds, as the Hall has enshrined nearly 300 individuals after the induction of the class of 2008. It’s also not at all difficult to keep someone out of the Hall, though, especially if personal grudges are taken into account.

So why wasn’t Dennis Rodman enshrined as soon as possible, five years after playing his final NBA game in March of 2000? Why wasn’t he a even a finalist, for goodness sake? He’s one of the greatest defensive players in the history of the game. Does anyone really think he damaged the integrity of the sport?

Judging Rodman strictly as a player, I see this as a no-brainer. Rodman is a Hall of Fame-caliber player, with credentials more worthy than all but a few players. But remember, Rodman is the player who threatened to strip naked on his final exit from the NBA. He kicked photographers, showed up for book signings in a dress, and was suspended multiple times by his teams and by the league. Following his career, he never failed to make the news every few months for various assaults or motorcycle crashes or boating-underthe-influence charges. You can bet there is motive for basketball people to want to keep the Worm out of the Hall of Fame.

Dennis Rodman never played high school basketball, and stood only five feet, eleven inches after his senior year. After graduating high school, he grew seven inches in one year. He played basketball for one semester at Cooke County Junior College, then transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Who would have thought that someone with that kind of background would make an impact on the NBA, much less become one of the greatest players to ever play in the league? I’ll make the case that Rodman, despite very low scoring totals, is a first-ballot Hall of Famer on paper. I believe he is the greatest defensive forward of all time, and the greatest rebounder of the last thirty-five years. His impact on his teammates and his team’s winning percentage speak to his abilities to directly influence the outcomes of games.

Rodman pulled down 11,954 rebounds in his 911 NBA games. In his rookie year, the second-round draft choice played only fifteen minutes per game for the Pistons, averaging just 4.3 rebounds. After that, in his remaining 834 games, he averaged 13.94 rebounds per game. In his final game, on March 7, 2000, Rodman had fifteen rebounds for the Mavericks, playing alongside