Does Dennis Rodman Deserve to Be in the Hall of Fame?

Lately there have been several stories popping up debating whether Dennis Rodman should be enshrined in the NBA Hall of Fame. Rodman has already been eligible for the Hall of Fame but so far he has not been inducted. Does Dennis Rodman deserve to be in the NBA Hall of Fame?

Dennis Rodman might currenty be the biggest Hall of Fame snub from any professional sports league. Dennis Rodman's NBA Hall of Fame resume is, pardon the pun, a slam dunk. When somebody imagines a player dominating in the NBA they probably first think of an offensive player and then occasionally think of a defensive player but it is not very often that a player is thought to be dominant because of their domination of a stat that isn't points.

It would not be unprecedented for a player to be noticed as a Hall of Fame player for a stat other than points though. Just this year John Stockton was inducted into the Hall of Fame and he is known for his amount of assists. Jason Kidd will probably be in the Hall of Fame some day for the same reason. Stockton and Kidd are both better offensive players than Rodman mind you, but neither has a 20 points per game season. Neither one has finished in the top 10 in scoring. If Stockton and Kidd can be noticed for their assists then why can't Dennis Rodman be noticed for his rebounds?

That's not to say that Dennis Rodman is a one dimensional player because Rodman was also a very good defender, a better defender than Jason Kidd or John Stockton is an offensive player or defensive player. Dennis Rodman was on the NBA All-Defensive Team first team seven times and made it on the 2nd team once also. Only Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Scottie Pippen, Bobby Jones and Tim Duncan have been named to the NBA All-Defensive first team more times.

Dennis Rodman was named the Defensive Player of the Year twice. Only Ben Wallace and Dikembe Motumbo have won the award more than twice and being a two-time winner puts you on the same level as Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning, Sidney Moncrief and Mark Eaton.

So why isn't Dennis Rodman in the NBA Hall of Fame? It seems to have more to do with his antics than his lack of ability. What does that have to do with the Hall of Fame? If Dennis Rodman had shot somebody or cheated then that would be different but Rodman's biggest crime seems to just be that he's a weird guy with a bad temper. Who cares what color his hair is, how many tattoos or nose rings he has or if he likes to wear a dress. So Rodman has committed some technical fouls and even kicked a camera man once. What great player hasn't been in scuffles or lost their temper?

It's time to put the character issues aside. Unless a player has cheated or been convicted of serious crimes then their character should not keep them out of their sport's Hall of Fame. A player should certainly not be kept out of the Hall of Fame just because they wear a dress and showed up on WCW Wrestling a few times.