Herschel Walker, Darren Woodson, Erik Williams, and DeMarcus Ware are among 122 modern-era nominees for Canton’s Class of 2022. | From @ToddBrock24f7
This year’s gold-jacket recipients Jimmy Johnson, Drew Pearson, and Cliff Harris won’t even receive their rings until halftime of the Cowboys’ home opener against Philadelphia on Monday night. But the Pro Football Hall of Fame has already started the process of selecting the Class of 2022, and several high-profile Cowboys greats have made the first cut.
Over 120 players are on the list of modern-era nominees. Linebacker DeMarcus Ware is among the first-year eligibles, while running back Herschel Walker, offensive tackle Erik Williams, and safety Darren Woodson are also on the ballot. Several other players- like Zach Thomas, La’Roi Glover, Jimmy Smith, Eddie George, and Randall Cunningham- spent at least a portion of their career wearing the star but are better-known for their stints with other clubs.
Quarterback Tony Romo was also eligible for Hall of Fame consideration this year, but is not one of the nominees.
The list of modern-era nominees will be cut to 25 semifinalists in November, and then to 15 finalists in January. The Class of 2022 will be enshrined in Canton next August.
This episode, we try our hand at making Boston a juggernaut.
With news that the Boston Celtics might target Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls should Washington Wizards star guard Bradley Beal prove out of reach of the Celtics, the hosts of the “Celtics Lab” podcast got to thinking on just how hard it is to create a true contender in the NBA right now.
With a fair amount of talent coagulated in just a handful of superteams, the pod’s hosts Justin Quinn, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Alex Goldberg tried their hand at creating even vaguely plausible superteams, stretching the definition of that star-studded roster status to its limits in the process.
Join us in the depth of the NBA doldrums as we do our best to make the Celtics into a contender with imaginary trades while talking about the LaVine rumbles, some Celtics moves around the margins, the Hall of Fame, and more.
Listen to the pod embedded above to see how the Celtics might get to superteam status in every way imaginable, including trading for Zion Williamson to standing pat.
Explaining how he used the snub as motivation, Pierce said, “Coming out of college, I was a First Team All-American, a projected No. 2 pick,” continuing on by naming every franchise that doubted him. “Thank you for passing on me and adding fuel to my fire,” he explained. “I appreciate that.”
But who were those teams, and who did they go with instead? Let’s look back at the top nine picks of that draft, and whether there’s any that didn’t end up regretting their selection, in retrospect.
WATCH: Where should we rank Celtics legend Paul Pierce among the NBA’s 50 greatest players? https://t.co/TVurEjxvKU
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James attended Chris Bosh’s Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony Saturday.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021 is officially enshrined.
Among the new class of basketball players entering the Hall of Fame is Paul Pierce, Yolanda Griffith, Chris Webber, Chris Bosh and more.
Bosh is the biggest name pertaining to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, as the two were teammates for several seasons when they played for the Miami Heat.
Bosh and James won back-to-back titles together in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, helping the relationship between the two grow. Both players were top four picks in the 2003 NBA draft.
Former Rockets coach Rick Adelman has joined Rudy Tomjanovich as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Former Rockets head coach Rick Adelman was inducted Saturday into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2021 class. Adelman joins legendary Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who was inducted earlier this year as part of the delayed Class of 2020.
Adelman began his NBA career as a player from 1968 until 1975, including a stint with the San Diego Rockets in his first two seasons. Adelman played for five teams, averaging 7.7 points and 3.5 assists per game.
Adelman’s Hall of Fame status, however, is based on his success as a head coach. In that capacity, he was known best as an innovator with free-flowing, motion offenses. As a coach, Adelman had the lead gig in Portland (1989-1994); Golden State (1995-1997); Sacramento (1999-2006); Houston (2007-2011); and Minnesota (2011-2014).
While Adelman never won an NBA title, he got deep into the playoffs many times — including the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals with the Trail Blazers and the 2002 Western Conference finals with the Kings, which may have resulted in a championship if not for questionable officiating.
With the Rockets, Adelman went 193-135 (.588) over four seasons, giving him the fourth-most wins of any head coach in franchise history. (The top three are Tomjanovich, Mike D’Antoni and Bill Fitch.) His .588 winning percentage ranks third, trailing D’Antoni and Kevin McHale.
Under Adelman’s watch, the Rockets had a historic 22-game winning streak in the 2007-08 season, and they won their first-round playoff series versus Portland in the 2008-09 season. That represented the franchise’s first series victory in the NBA playoffs in 12 years.
While the Rockets never seriously contended for a championship in either of those years, that fate was largely due to reasons out of Adelman’s control: All-Star center Yao Ming had both seasons cut short due to serious foot injuries. Those injuries eventually forced Yao to retire much earlier than expected and pushed the Rockets into a rebuilding cycle, for which a veteran coach like Adelman wasn’t an ideal fit.
Nonetheless, Adelman’s tenure with the Rockets should be remembered fondly, and now he is recognized alongside Tomjanovich at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. With a 1,042-749 career record (.582), Adelman ranks No. 9 all-time in NBA coaching wins.
Adelman’s complete enshrinement speech can be viewed below.
The University of San Francisco NCAA champion would continue his unprecedented success as a player with the Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s, winning 11 titles in a dozen trips to the NBA Finals with Boston, several of which towards the end of that run in which he was also a player-coach. The first Black head coach in modern North American sports history, Russell faced battles on and off the court for which Obama was sure to note.
Watch the clip embedded below to see his speech in honor of Russell’s second induction to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame yourself.
Now a two-time Hall of Famer, watch this clip to get a feel for Russell as a coach in Boston’s heyday.
The first Black coach of any major North American sport in modern history, Boston Celtics legendary big man Bill Russell is on the cusp for his second induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame for his work as a player-coach of the Celtics in the latter third of their unrivaled 1960s dynasty.
Dually enshrined as a player, far more of us are aware of Russel’s intimidating presence on the court, and how he helped transform the style of play in the NBA with his outlet passing and ferocious blocks. But less recollections of his time as a coach remain — and even less about what he faced from the media and fans for taking on the role of coach.
Watch the video embedded below to catch a glimpse of how Russell was seen by his peers at the time with this interview focusing on the Celtic great and his impact as a head coach — both in basketball and beyond — courtesy of CLNS Media.
The last title team in Celtics history, won by the big three of Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, has been at odds since Allen left Boston to join the Miami Heat in 2012. The Truth and Jesus Shuttlesworth have since made amends, but the ire between Allen and KG has lingered on. But, a recent video from our friends at CLNS Media in attendance for Pierce’s big night showed something pretty surprising — The Big Ticket and the UConn product are seated next to one another.
Does this signal an end to one of the most enduring grudges in league history? We certainly hope so, even if they never manage to recapture the spirit of “ubuntu” that brought them together to win Banner 17 in 2008.
Many just want to be able to enjoy that moment as fans without diving into drama, and with a little luck, that moment might just have arrived. Watch the video embedded above, and decide for yourself what might be about to go down.
And for good reason. The 10-time All-Star earned an NBA title with the Celtic, won the Finals Most Valuable Player award, was elected to four All-NBA teams, and gained countless other honors. The Truth has given Celtics fans — and haters — plenty to talk about for decades.
To honor that and dig into some of the juicier nuggets circulating in recent days because of the article by Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated to commemorate Pierce’s career, the hosts of the CLNS Media podcast “Winning Plays” hosted an episode focused on the former Kansas standout.
Watch the video embedded above to hear Rich Levine and Brian Robb’s thoughts on Pierce’s Hall of Fame induction, with plenty of introspection about one of Boston’s greatest players.
