The NBA offseason is a fun time for predictions, comparisons, and analysis for the year ahead. An in-depth analysis involving former New Orleans Pelicans Point guard Jrue Holiday has caused an uproar on social media. Popular basketball statistics site Basketball Reference has an algorithm that predicts Hall of Famers and currently active players and their percentage of being inducted in Springfield.
Holiday ranks 36th on the list with a 1.67% chance of being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, according to Basketball Reference. The tweet containing this information currently has over 5.5 million views, with many commenting that it is a tragedy that the former Pelican is ranked so low.
The former first-round pick out of UCLA certainly has some great attributes to boast about. Holiday is a two-time NBA champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a two-time All-Star selection and a six-time All-Defensive Team selection. He is also one of two players in NBA history to win a championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same summer. The other is Scottie Pippen.
Holiday spent six seasons in New Orleans, averaging 17.6 points, 6.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 415 regular-season games in the Big Easy. The 2017-18 Pelicans team Holiday played on was the last to make it out of the first round of the playoffs in New Orleans. Two years later, the team traded him to the Bucks, and Holiday won his first championship that year with Milwaukee. In a recent article, he was voted the greatest Olympian in Pelicans franchise history.
The list includes a few current Pelicans who have a chance at making the Hall of Fame. Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram all have less than 1% chances according to the site. The parameters for being on the list are having played at least 400 games, then a series of statistical variables such as championships, standings points, win shares and All-Star selections.
On the court this season, the Pelicans have a talented roster, led by Zion Williamson, Ingram, Murray, McCollum, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones. New Orleans is focused on advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs. They have made the playoffs twice in the last three seasons, but have been eliminated in the first round each time.
The Pelicans must stay healthy and focused to compete in the Western Conference. New Orleans opens its regular season at home against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 23.
