The 2018 Hall of Fame class should be a pretty good one.
The 2018 nominees for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame were announced and because of a new rule that reduces the eligibility period for a player from four years to three years (it was five before that), there are a few really good candidates and virtual locks for the 2018 class.
Jason Kidd is four years removed from the game and was expected to be a lock and headliner for the class, but now Steve Nash and Ray Allen are eligible and should join him as well.
Here is a complete list of nominees:
Eligible candidates for class of 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame. Finalists announced All-Star weekend and inductees announced Final Four weekend: pic.twitter.com/P243isQ6Uv
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) December 21, 2017
Here are all the first-time nominees:
Jason Kidd
Steve Nash
Ray Allen
Grant Hill
Chauncey Billups
Bob Dandridge
Richard Hamilton
Hill is the only one not previously mentioned that has a chance to get in this season, but it feels like this will happen a few years down the road.
Billups, Dandridge and Hamilton just weren’t elite players or all-star calibers players even for a long enough period of time to warrant induction in my opinion, although I will listen to an argument for Billups.
The guys on the list who have been nominees in the past and have the best chance of enshrinement are Sidney Moncrief, Tim Hardaway and Chris Webber.
You typically get about four NBA players per season so my guess for 2018 is: Kidd, Nash, Allen and Tim Hardaway winning by the tiniest margin over C-Webb.
As mentioned in the tweet above, winners will be announced during Final Four weekend.
