CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: The Injustice Continues

by FLCeltsFan 2:32 PM

The Hall of Fame inductees for 2008 have been announced and once again, DJ was not chosen. DJ should have been inducted long ago and the fact that he is continually bypassed is a terrible injustice to a player who deserves to be in the Hall.

Joe Dumars was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006 and DJ's credentials are just as good, if not better. Dumars was part of 2 championship teams with the Pistons. DJ won 3 championships, 2 with Boston and 1 with Seattle. The fact that he was able to win championships with 2 different teams speaks for itself. Both Dumars and DJ were named Finals MVP once.

Dumars made All NBA 2nd team once and All NBA 3rd team twice while DJ Made All NBA 1st team once and All NBA 2nd team once. I would say that pretty much evens out. Even though DJ was on the first team while Dumars wasn't but Dumars made the third team twice to none for DJ.

DJ was named to the NBA All Defensive 1st team 6 times and to the NBA All Defensive 2nd team three times. Joe Dumars made only 4 All Defensive teams. Dumars was a 6 time All Star while DJ was a 5 time All Star.

When we compare their career stats, DJ comes out on top. Dumars scored 16,401 points, pulled down 2,203 rebounds, and dished out 4,612 assists. DJ scored 15,535 points, pulled down 4,249 rebounds and dished out 5,499 assists. He was only the 11th player to amass over 15,000 points and 5,000 rebounds.

DJ was also a very durable player. Over his 14 year career, he missed only 48 games. He played in 180 playoff games, which was the 11th highest total of all time. Everything about DJ's career showed that he was the consummate pro and no less than Larry Bird called him the best teammate he ever had.

As you can see from the comparison, DJ's NBA credentials are just as good and maybe better than Joe Dumars. Yet, Dumars was elected to the Hall in 2006 and DJ was turned down for the 4th time in 2008. It is an ongoing injustice that needs to be remedied. It is a travesty that DJ wasn't elected when Dumars and his Celtics teammates were elected, while he was alive to enjoy it. But it has become even more of a travesty as he continues to be overlooked. The Hall needs to change its method of voting or its voters because there is something very wrong with the way they are doing it now.

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