Is the Basketball Hall of Fame too inclusive?

A common knock on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is that it is too easy to get inducted into. Obviously, there's nothing easy about making it to the NBA or carving out a successful coaching or management career, whether in the Association, the college ranks, or overseas. But when it comes to the sport's Hall of Fame, many feel that it has simply become the Hall of 'very good' instead of a shrine saved for only the very best greats and Gods that the game has seen.

On that note, 20,000 career points is to the Basketball Hall of Fame what 500 home runs once was to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as many consider that a player who has hit the 20K benchmark has virtually assured himself a Hall of Fame induction (Of the 28 Hall of Fame eligible 20K scorers, Tom Chambers is the only one that hasn't been granted entry). That theory was reaffirmed on Monday when it was announced that Mitch Richmond would be one of 10 inducted into the Hall in 2014.

This piece isn't meant to discredit Richmond's NBA career, as the Kansas State product and No. 5 pick in the 1988 Draft enjoyed a wonderful 14-year tenure that saw him score 20,497 points, average 21.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals, shoot over 45 percent from the field and nearly 39 percent from three, make six All-Star games, win an All-Star game MVP, win Rookie of the Year and make five straight All-NBA teams from 1994-1998.

But Richmond's induction should make us once again question the standards of a Hall that is supposed to be a place for the game's immortals, not just a place for every perennial All-Star or big time scorer that's ever strolled through the Association.

The most Win Shares Richmond ever produced in a season was 10.8 in the 1996-97 campaign, according to Basketball Reference. That would rank tied for eighth with Kyle Lowry and DeAndre Jordan this season, and those two still have a couple of weeks of season to play. He never posted a PER better than 21.6, his career PER of 17.6 is solidly above average but far from great, none of his five All-NBA selections were First Team selections, he never finished better than 13th in MVP voting and other than the championship he won while playing just four minutes total in the 2002 Playoffs with the Lakers, he never made it past the second round and only qualified for the postseason three times.

For as successful a 14-year career as Richmond enjoyed, at no point was he ever really one of the truly elite on court difference makers in the game. There's nothing wrong with celebrating the career he had - one which few human beings or even professional basketball players will ever enjoy - but the precedent inducting Richmond into the Hall of Fame sets is a dangerous one.

More than ripping Richmond, this piece is meant to direct your attention to currently active players whose Hall of Fame candidacy has been boosted today by Richmond's inclusion.

We already knew that guys like LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and eventually Kevin Durant will be there.

In addition, Carmelo Anthony is 89 points away from becoming the 40th member of the NBA's 20,000-point club and won an NCAA championship at Syracuse, regardless of whether he adds anything other than individual offensive achievements in the NBA. Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili can combine a bevy of All-Star appearances and championships with legendary international careers to punch their tickets to Springfield, and Dwight Howard will surely finish his career with beastly, Hall worthy numbers.

Those players were likely considered future Hall of Famers by modern fans already (and there are much younger superstars in the game today who will get there one day as well), but what about players we might consider on the bubble?

Vince Carter is already part of the 20K club, was one of the most famous athletes on the planet during his prime and has actually been a model or durability for the majority of 16 years. Chris Bosh is a nine-time All-Star, should hit the 20,000 mark before his career is over, finished in the top-12 in MVP voting twice in Toronto and has already been a key cog on a two-time championship team that will go down as one of the best ever.

Chauncey Billups has scored over 15,800 points in his 17-year career, is top-40 all time in assists, is a five-time All-Star, an NBA champion, and rightly or wrongly, was regarded as one of the game's most clutch players during his prime, earning the nickname 'Mr. Big Shot.' Shawn Marion's a four-time All-Star, an NBA champion and was one of the most dynamic two way players we may ever see during his prime. 

If Richmond is in, then surely Carter, Bosh, Billups and perhaps even Marion will eventually follow, right?

Heck, Joe Johnson is now a seven-time All-Star, has scored over 17,000 points and has shot the ball just about as well as Richmond did. If he plays a few more years (He's still just 32) and gets to 20,000 points, is 'Iso Joe' a Hall of Famer?

And if you think we're getting carried away with how low into the active barrel we're scraping for potential Hall of Famers in comparison to Richmond, consider the following table:

Richmond is Player A here in this six-player table, ranking in a tie for third out of six in career PER, sixth in Win Shares per 48 minutes and fourth in effective field goal percentage. The other five players? In order from B to D, Elton Brand, Antawn Jamison, Rashard Lewis, Andre Miller and Jason Terry.

Jamison, by the way, eclipsed the 20K mark this season, Miller sits ninth all-time with 8,133 career assists, and Terry is fourth all-time in made three-pointers.

The point here isn't to say that the other five guys in the table are Hall of Famers, as while we all appreciate each of those players' lengthy and successful careers, it's doubtful that any of us, at any point, has ever thought 'Hall of Fame' while watching them play.

But if good, not great, players like Richmond continue to be inducted based on one statistical benchmark or by All-Star game appearances, the point is that the Hall of Fame will become watered down by players more worthy of a simple commemorative night by a former franchise or two than players worthy of commemorative celebration by the the entire league and all the greats who came before them.

LeBron James trying to come up with an NBA Mount Rushmore might have been far too selective and difficult, but when it comes to the Hall of Fame, there's a such thing as being too inclusive.

You can go beyond a four face Mount Rushmore, but you also don't have to try to fill the Grand Canyon with every NBA player who's ever been good for a five-to-10 year stretch.