Should Mark Jackson Be Inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame?

Soon a committee of seven will decide which NBA players deserve to be on the ballot for the Hall of Fame. One of the names the committee will have to decide on is Mark Jackson. Mark Jackson will be a interesting decision as many think he is right on the borderline. Should Mark Jackson be in the NBA Hall of Fame?

It's starting to become a cliché in these types of debates but now is about the time when somebody says, "It's the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of very good." Mark Jackson definitely has some things going for him. When Mark Jackson retired he was second all-time in assists behind only John Stockton. Any time you are one of the all-time leaders in a stat there has to be some consideration.

Unfortunately the stat is very deceiving. Mark Jackson was second in assists at the time that he retired but he did it by playing a really long time. Mark Jackson only led the league in assists one time in his career, only finished second one other time and finished third two other times. Mark Jackson only averaged in the double digits twice in his career, a feat that John Stockton did ten times.

Chris Paul and Deron Williams have both already averaged double digits assists in a season as many times as Mark Jackson.. Are we ready to make them Hall of Fame players already? Mark Jackson's assists per game for his career are just above Stephon Marbury and Mugsy Bogues. Is anybody voting them into the NBA Hall of Fame?

The Hall of Fame is for the greatest players of all-time. Mark Jackson was never at anytime even one of the greatest players in the league. Was Mark Jackson even the greatest player on his own team at any point? I don't think so. If you're a Hall of Fame player then you'll be the best player on your team at some point unless you're stuck with somebody like Michael Jordan your whole career but even Scottie Pippen was the best player on his team when Jordan decided to go play baseball.

Mark Jackson was a very good player for a lot of years. Jackson played a big role in the success of the New York Knicks in the late 80's to early 90's and the Indiana Pacers of the 90's. Mark Jackson is a good teammate and likable personality but none of that gets a player into the NBA Hall of Fame. In all the categories that matter Mark Jackson just doesn't stack up to other NBA Hall of Fame players.