The Greatest Hall of Fame Classes Ever
Posted by Neil Paine on September 11, 2009
Well, it's finally here: today's the big day when we induct BBR blog favorites John Stockton & David Robinson, in addition to Michael Jordan, the greatest who ever played the game, into the Hall of Fame. And what better topic for a post than to see where this year's star-studded class ranks among the great classes of all time. The metric we'll be using, of course, is Win Shares, which luckily enough have recently been expanded to include every NBA (and ABA) season since 1951-52, the first year minutes played were tracked. So we basically have all of modern pro basketball history at our disposal now to run lists like this, which is very cool and makes this kind of exercise possible. Oh, and another note before we move to the numbers -- like we did in this article, I'm valuing an ABA Win Share at 25% less than an NBA Win Share (the reasoning behind this is explained in that article as well).
So, first off, which classes have the most raw Win Shares ever? And where does today's group stand?
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Julius Erving | 163.3 |
| 1993 | Dan Issel | 143.9 |
| 1993 | Walt Bellamy | 130.5 |
| 1993 | Calvin Murphy | 83.0 |
| 1993 | Dick McGuire | 40.9 |
| 1993 | Bill Walton | 39.2 |
| 1. 1993 | Total | 600.9 |
| 2009 | Michael Jordan | 208.5 |
| 2009 | John Stockton | 205.3 |
| 2009 | David Robinson | 177.1 |
| 2. 2009 | Total | 591.0 |
| 1980 | Oscar Robertson | 191.1 |
| 1980 | Jerry West | 162.8 |
| 1980 | Jerry Lucas | 97.5 |
| 3. 1980 | Total | 451.3 |
| 2008 | Hakeem Olajuwon | 163.4 |
| 2008 | Adrian Dantley | 134.0 |
| 2008 | Patrick Ewing | 124.8 |
| 4. 2008 | Total | 422.2 |
| 2006 | Charles Barkley | 176.0 |
| 2006 | Dominique Wilkins | 115.4 |
| 2006 | Joe Dumars | 83.1 |
| 5. 2006 | Total | 374.5 |
In terms of total raw Win Shares, the Class of 2009 only trails 1993, which saw luminaries like Julius Erving get ushered in. But wait... All of the other classes on the list have only 3 inductees, while the Class of '93 has a whopping six! It's not really a fair comparison when one group has twice as many players as the rest, is it?
Okay. So what if we went with the best classes by average career WS per inductee?
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Wilt Chamberlain | 249.6 |
| 1. 1979 | Average | 249.6 |
| 2009 | Michael Jordan | 208.5 |
| 2009 | John Stockton | 205.3 |
| 2009 | David Robinson | 177.1 |
| 2. 2009 | Average | 197.0 |
| 2001 | Moses Malone | 172.6 |
| 3. 2001 | Average | 172.6 |
| 1995 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 272.5 |
| 1995 | Vern Mikkelsen | 65.6 |
| 4. 1995 | Average | 169.0 |
| 1975 | Bill Russell | 162.6 |
| 5. 1975 | Average | 162.6 |
Again, today's bunch comes in second, behind the class of 1971. But wait... None of the other classes on the list have 3 players -- in fact, most have just one. I know Wilt Chamberlain was a statistical monster and all, but it's not really fair to say that a class consisting of a single Hall of Famer trumps a class of three. So, what to do about these conundrums?
How about this: If a class has 3 players or more, we use their existing average; if they have less, we fill them with "typical Hall of Famers" until they have 3, and then take their new average. And what's a typical Hall of Famer? The average WS value for all Hall of Famers is 96.0, so we'll add that value to the total for small classes, and divide by 3. This neither overcredits massive classes like '93, who topped the raw list on sheer volume, not overvalues small classes consisting of one transcendent star (like Chamberlain's 1-man class). The results:
| Rank | Class | totWS | Players | Avg | NewAvg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009 | 591.0 | 3 | 197.0 | 197.0 |
| 2 | 1980 | 451.3 | 3 | 150.4 | 150.4 |
| 3 | 1979 | 249.6 | 1 | 249.6 | 147.2 |
| 4 | 1995 | 338.1 | 2 | 169.0 | 144.7 |
| 5 | 2008 | 422.2 | 3 | 140.7 | 140.7 |
| 6 | 2006 | 374.5 | 3 | 124.8 | 124.8 |
| 7 | 2001 | 172.6 | 1 | 172.6 | 121.6 |
| 8 | 1975 | 162.6 | 1 | 162.6 | 118.2 |
| 9 | 2003 | 226.5 | 2 | 113.3 | 107.5 |
| 10 | 1971 | 224.2 | 2 | 112.1 | 106.8 |
| 11 | 1984 | 223.2 | 2 | 111.6 | 106.4 |
| 12 | 1997 | 221.1 | 2 | 110.6 | 105.7 |
| 13 | 1973 | 119.3 | 1 | 119.3 | 103.8 |
| 14 | 1999 | 112.0 | 1 | 112.0 | 101.4 |
| 15 | 1993 | 600.9 | 6 | 100.1 | 100.1 |
| 16 | 1977 | 102.5 | 1 | 102.5 | 98.2 |
| 17 | 1992 | 188.1 | 2 | 94.1 | 94.7 |
| 18 | 1988 | 180.9 | 2 | 90.4 | 92.3 |
| 19 | 2002 | 177.5 | 2 | 88.8 | 91.2 |
| 20 | 1998 | 176.6 | 2 | 88.3 | 90.9 |
| 21 | 1960 | 78.1 | 1 | 78.1 | 90.1 |
| 22 | 1990 | 359.0 | 4 | 89.7 | 89.7 |
| 23 | 2000 | 171.4 | 2 | 85.7 | 89.2 |
| 24 | 2004 | 154.6 | 2 | 77.3 | 83.6 |
| 25 | 1959 | 43.1 | 1 | 43.1 | 78.4 |
| 26 | 1976 | 138.2 | 2 | 69.1 | 78.1 |
| 27 | 1986 | 136.8 | 2 | 68.4 | 77.6 |
| 28 | 1996 | 309.4 | 4 | 77.3 | 77.3 |
| 29 | 1991 | 231.1 | 3 | 77.0 | 77.0 |
| 30 | 1989 | 131.9 | 2 | 66.0 | 76.0 |
| 31 | 1970 | 26.6 | 1 | 26.6 | 72.9 |
| 32 | 1961 | 24.5 | 1 | 24.5 | 72.2 |
| 33 | 1982 | 267.1 | 4 | 66.8 | 66.8 |
| 34 | 1987 | 330.3 | 5 | 66.1 | 66.1 |
| 35 | 1985 | 84.3 | 2 | 42.2 | 60.1 |
| 36 | 1983 | 171.0 | 3 | 57.0 | 57.0 |
| 37 | 1978 | 191.5 | 4 | 47.9 | 47.9 |
That's more like it! Finally facing a fair fight, the Class of 2009 takes the rightful place atop the leaderboard as the greatest HoF class in basketball history. And let's close with a more detailed look at the top 10:
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Michael Jordan | 208.5 |
| 2009 | John Stockton | 205.3 |
| 2009 | David Robinson | 177.1 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 1980 | Oscar Robertson | 191.1 |
| 1980 | Jerry West | 162.8 |
| 1980 | Jerry Lucas | 97.5 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 1979 | Wilt Chamberlain | 249.6 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 1995 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 272.5 |
| 1995 | Vern Mikkelsen | 65.6 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 2008 | Hakeem Olajuwon | 163.4 |
| 2008 | Adrian Dantley | 134.0 |
| 2008 | Patrick Ewing | 124.8 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 2006 | Charles Barkley | 176.0 |
| 2006 | Dominique Wilkins | 115.4 |
| 2006 | Joe Dumars | 83.1 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 2001 | Moses Malone | 172.6 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 1975 | Bill Russell | 162.6 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 2003 | Robert Parish | 145.7 |
| 2003 | James Worthy | 80.8 |
| HoF Year | Player | WS |
| 1971 | Bob Pettit | 133.5 |
| 1971 | Bob Cousy | 90.8 |
September 11th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
typical....you guys always find a way to put jordan and lebron on top...keep shifting the numbers boys...you doing great!just kidding, mj is the best ever and will drag robinsonand stockton by their heals into the hall as the best class ever...kinda feels like deja-vu in a since doesnt it. you know jordan dragging lesser individuals to make them look even better in the end! however, when it is all said and done kobe will be on top, but im sure you'll no doubt find a way to rebuke that too, later boys...keep up the good work!
September 11th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
This is a funny post. I was thinking, if I could start a team with a core of any single year's HoF inductees, I would take this one... Kind of reminiscent of the 1984 draft with David in place of Hakeem. Just missing Chuck!
September 12th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Typical to find a way to keep the real greatest of all time off the top.
September 14th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
As an aside, how about a Keltner list for Jerry Sloan the player? Looking over the questions I think he fairs better than one might expect.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I don't think you need to resort to fuzzy math (averaging in guys who weren't inducted) to determine that this is the best class ever. All 3 of this year's inductees were better than than the top 3 in 93, and Jordan obviously ranks near Wilt all by himself, so throwing in the career assists leader and an all-time great center makes it no contest.
September 21st, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Actually Craig KAJ has the highest Win shares, but that's obviously because he played a total 7 seasons more than Wilt(including the year Wilt was out because of Knee surgery).
Wilt was the best ever, not MJ.
January 4th, 2010 at 4:05 am
Adding weaker hall of famers to a hall of fame class doesn't make the class any weaker. That is like saying adding an average hall of famer to MJ's group would make them less impressive. Also, by your system, a year with no players inducted would be an average year in terms of quality, which doesn't seem right
Better systems i could think of is sum of the squares, or just add the top 3 players of each class.
Top 3 players of each class gives chamberlain's class a slightly below average class and the class of 93 would move down to 4th (arguably a reasonable listing depending how you view quantity vs quality)
sum of squares (which i will devide by 3 and then take the square root of to keep the numbers reasonable) would give jordan's class a 197.5, chamberlain's class a 144.1 and class of 93 a 157.6
Either of these, IMO, would be a better system than the one you just [months ago] laid out (deciding between the two mostly depends on how you view the chamberlain class [i like the 2nd one better])