2026 has been the season for snubs. First, it was Canton, Ohio, refusing to induct the
greatest football coach in history, and now it’s happening in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Stephon Marbury Hall of Fame snub has been ongoing, and continues to happen.
There simply is no excuse for keeping Marbury out of the Hall, except for the same
excuses made about Bill Belichick. He was not well-liked.
If the credentials for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame were just a player’s stats and
achievements, Marbury would already be in. He played 846 games in the NBA,
averaging 19.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. There are
players in the Hall of Fame already who can’t touch these numbers, and an excuse
can’t be made for them that doesn’t apply to the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket.
Already In The Hall Of Fame
Two of these players are Drazen Petrovic and Toni Kukoc. Both are enshrined in
Springfield, despite having inferior numbers to Marbury. Kukoc played 846 games in the
NBA (exact same as Marbury), averaging 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per
game. Petrovic, while considered one of the greatest shooters of all time, had a far
shorter career due to an untimely death in 1993. In 290 NBA games, he averaged 15.4
points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game.
It can be argued that they were inducted not just for their NBA career, which were not as
good as Marbury’s, but for their international careers, which were arguably not as good
as Marbury’s. Finding data on foreign hoops careers is a difficult task. Sports-Reference
lists Olympic careers for all the players, and for Kukoc, just 68 games, with averages of
19.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists.
Marbury played 220 games in China after his NBA career, averaging 19.9 points, 4.2
rebounds, and 5.5 assists. He won three championships and an MVP. Petrovic played in
the Euro League before it was big, and it’s difficult to find his stats and achievements. If
Marbury’s NBA career was superior to those of these two players, and his international
career was equal to or better than theirs, then why is he not also in the Hall of Fame?
NBA ONLY
Removing Marbury’s stellar career in China, and focusing solely on his NBA career, his
numbers have to be measured against those of other basketball Hall of Famers who
only had an NBA career. Players who had similar careers, games played-wise, would be
Tim Hardaway and Jo Jo White. Hardaway played 867 games, averaging 17.7 points,
3.3 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game. Half an assist better, and more than 2 points
per game fewer than Marbury, and he gets an orange jacket.
White played 837 games in his career, averaging 17.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.9
assists per game. He averaged fewer points and assists than Marbury, but he got in
because he averaged a rebound more per game? A player significantly worse than
Marbury, who is in the Hall of Fame, is Tony Parker. He had a longer NBA career,
appearing in 1,254 games, but his career averages of 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and
5.6 assists don’t exactly move the needle.
The last player who needs to be looked at is Boston Celtics great Bob Cousy. He played
924 NBA games, averaging 18.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. These
numbers are quite similar to Marbury’s. Cousy did benefit from playing on the league’s
first super team, which steamrolled the rest of the league for more than a decade.
Parker and White were also NBA champions. Is Marbury being penalized for not having
Hall of Fame teammates?
Stephon Marbury Hall Of Fame Snub Needs To Stop
Even when comparing his achievements per season to Hall of Famers, Marbury
measures up favorably. He averaged over 20 points per game six times in his career.
Tony Parker did this twice, Cousy did it four times, and point guards Steve Nash and
Jason Kidd never did it one time. As far as averaging under 10 points per game, he only
did that once in his career. His final season with the Celtics. Kidd averaged less than 10
points per game six times, Nash did it five times, and Parker did it three times.
Marbury needs to be in the Hall of Fame, just based on his NBA career. When his
international career is added in, he is a no-brainer, and the fact that he was not even a
finalist in 2026 is a slap in the face to the history of the sport. Shame on the voters.
