Is Damian Lillard a Hall of Famer? Patrick Beverley Says “Hell No”
Despite much of the attention of basketball fans being on the always captivating March Madness tournament and the renewed discussion about where NBA legends LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant fit in the GOAT ranking, former NBA player Patrick Beverley is weighing in on potential Hall of Famers. In particular, Beverley is talking about the potential of scoring phenom Damian Lillard making it in.
To many people, Lillard one day making it into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is a no-brainer. However, Beverley isn’t so sure, and he presented a few reasons to cast some doubts.
Patrick Beverley’s List of Hall of Famer Qualifications Seemingly Disqualify Damian Lillard
If you weren’t aware, Beverley has officially launched a new YouTube series simply titled Pat Bev Show. In Episode 2, “Life in Greece + Pat's NBA Takes,” he answers a series of questions from viewers, and one question read, “Pat Bev, is Dame Lillard Hall of Fame?”
Opting not to mince words, Beverely quickly replies with, “Hell no.” Now, before Beverley elaborates on why he feels this way, he’s sure to express his love for Dame, promising that there’s no “ill-will or beef with Dame at all.” Then, getting the disclaimers out of the way, Beverely elaborates on his point, stating:
“First off, I think there’s too many people getting into Hall of Fame. Right. Let me start off with that. Second off, Hall of Fame has to be like a combination of like, obviously, points, rebounds, assists. It has to be a combination of like wins. It has to be a combination of playoff appearances. And it has to be a combination of championships.
“Like how we gonna say no to D-Rose [Derrick Rose] getting MVP, and say yes to Dame Lillard? You know what I’m saying? You feel me? If he get a chip [championship], fo sho. Right? If he get a chip for sho. But like, scoring a lot of points on like okay teams, I don’t think that gets you into Hall of Fame.”
It’s worth clarifying that Beverley later tweaks his initial answer by removing the “hell” and just saying “no,” stating Lillard is not “Hall of Fame yet.” Additionally, Beverely shares that he himself is a person who wishes he could be in the Hall of Fame amongst people like “Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, James Harden, Steph Curry, and people who’ve done it at a high level and are in the record books.” He appears not to rank himself among those greats though, and subtly implies Lillard is not in that caliber of player either.
If you want to check out the full Pat Bev Show episode, you can watch it below. He also answers an interesting question about Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard.
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