Home | On the Court | In the Community | Hall of Fame? | Retire #4 | Stats | Quotes
Sign Petition | Message Board | Buy T-Shirts | About Fans4Dantley | Press Room

Adrian Dantley belongs in the Hall of Fame. If you Google his name, you will find several articles from respected sports media making this case.

In addition to his 23,177 points, Dantley was a six-time All-Star and was voted to the starting team five of those six years. During his 15-year career, he won two NBA scoring championships (1981, 1984), averaged 30 points per game (ppg) or better four times, was named NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1984), was named to the All-NBA Team twice and was Rookie of the Year in 1977. In addition, he was a two time collegiate First Team All-American, and also led the USA to the Gold Medal in the 1976 Olympic Games scoring a game-high 32 points in the championship game against Yugoslavia.

FOUR REASONS TO VOTE NO.4 INTO THE HALL OF FAME

1. Dantley scored more points in his NBA career than Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Dr. J and Elgin Baylor. He is the only eligible player among the top 25 scorers in NBA history who has not been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

2. Dantley led the USA to the Gold Medal in the 1976 Olympic Games scoring a game-high 32 points in the championship game against Yugoslavia.

3. As a freshman, Dantley played the key role in the upset that ended the UCLA and John Wooden's 88-game winning streak in 1974. Dantley was named a First Team All-American twice and is the second leading scorer in Notre Dame history (despite the fact he only played three years of college basketball).

4. At 6’5, Dantley's signature was his post moves, the likes of which have not been seen since. Wilt Chamberlain called Dantley one of the three greatest post-up players of all-time (the other two being himself and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Utah Jazz announcer Hot Rod Huntley characterized Dantley as "a ballet dancer in basketball sneakers."

.

Read what some of his peers say about Dantley and the Hall of Fame:

"He should be in the Hall of Fame without a doubt. He was a great player and he taught me a lot of things. He taught me how important it is to train in the summertime. He always prepared himself, which is something I learned from him. I think he should have his (Jazz) jersey retired. I don't make those decisions, but if it were up to me, they'd retire his number."

Karl Malone, Deseret News, Feb. 23, 1998

"That's kind of a political thing more than anything else. The powers that be are the ones who make that decision and I'm not going to get in the middle of that. A.D. was a great player. He carried the Jazz for a long time and he had a great NBA career. Statistically, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I had a great time playing with him."

Mark Eaton, Deseret News, Feb. 23, 1998

"Nobody questions Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's credentials, but he was always aloof and distant especially with the media. Nobody -- and that includes opponents, teammates, media or fans - ever accused Rick Barry of being a charmer. Walt Bellamy was widely considered an underachiever for his good-game, bad-game pattern of play. And Indiana coach Bobby Knight is in the Hall of Fame, even though few have done more to embarrass the game of basketball. Heck, Knight probably has destroyed more budding young basketball players than he's developed."

"Dantley didn't do drugs, he never got arrested, he never choked his coach. He just showed up, night after night, did his job and did it better than the vast majority of his peers. If he didn't do it with a smile on his face, so what?"

Deseret News, Dec. 19, 1999

Copyright ©2006 Fans4Dantley