Nah. He could be the next Richard Williams for all we know.
He isn't close to the first and he isn't even the greatest foreign player on his team
Though as I think through names he is probably a top 10 international player
He's a boderline top 5 international player all time, imo - that Olympic medal and being part of an iconic team matters a lot. (Not counting guys like Steve Nash and Tim Duncan that went through the US college system but were born outside the US borders).
Older guys like Sergei Belov I have no idea what to do with ... many Europeans will say he's the best non-US basketball player of all time (FIBA voted him #1 in their list and he was the first foreign player ever in the Naismith Hall of Fame) but it was well before my time and there's not even really video of him. I'll put him at 3 behind Olajuwon and Nowitzki for now.
Hakeem Olajuwon
Dirk Nowitzki
Sergei Belov
Arvydas Sabonis
Paul Gasol / Manu Ginobli
He isn't close to the first and he isn't even the greatest foreign player on his team
Though as I think through names he is probably a top 10 international player
Fair enough. Did not mean he was one of the first ever. I did mean he was one that had a major impact on basketball. Agree my post was not clear.
Don't really consider duncan a foreigner (us vi , us college). As greats as Parker has been at time I consider ginobili to be a better player.
Parker does have a Finals MVP on his resume though, but no gold medal. My guess is both get in at the end of the day. You could just put two small statues on the back of the Duncan statue.
Sergei Belov at #3 on that list is the most classic vad move you could imagine.
Can you imagine if there was a Russian player that went to Georgia Tech, beat Kansas in the tournament, and was drafted in the lottery? We'd have to start a new board for vad.
Just need RJ to come in here and talk about Arvidis schooling DRob in the Olympics.
I'm putting my money on Toni Kukoc giving it to that Russian fella in a game of one on one.
Parker does have a Finals MVP on his resume though, but no gold medal. My guess is both get in at the end of the day. You could just put two small statues on the back of the Duncan statue.
Using nothing but NBA numbers, Basketball Reference has Tony Parker as a 94% likelihood to make the Hall of Fame (just ahead of Pau Gasol actually) (there are 0 eligible players ahead of him that aren't already in the Hall of Fame).
Manu is listed as a 20% chance, but as mentioned above, the calculations are based on nothing but NBA numbers. There are several players in the Hall of Fame with worse NBA numbers than Manu (but none recently). As most folks have indicated earlier, Manu is getting in easily (IMO) based on a combination of international and NBA credentials. The fact that he is a great ambassador for basketball and is extremely well-liked will help as well.
Using nothing but NBA numbers, Basketball Reference has Tony Parker as a 94% likelihood to make the Hall of Fame (just ahead of Pau Gasol actually) (there are 0 eligible players ahead of him that aren't already in the Hall of Fame).
Manu is listed as a 20% chance, but as mentioned above, the calculations are based on nothing but NBA numbers. There are several players in the Hall of Fame with worse NBA numbers than Manu (but none recently). As most folks have indicated earlier, Manu is getting in easily (IMO) based on a combination of international and NBA credentials. The fact that he is a great ambassador for basketball and is extremely well-liked will help as well.