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Hall of Fame Prediction For Former New Orleans Pelicans Guard Causes Uproar
Mar 8, 2020; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday (11) controls the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first quarter at Target Center. Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA offseason is a fun time for predictions, comparisons, and analysis ahead of the upcoming year. One analytical deep-dive involving former New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday has social media in an uproar. The popular basketball stat site Basketball Reference has an algorithm for predicting Hall of Famers and currently the list of active players and their percentage of getting enshrined in Springfield.

Holiday ranks No. 36 on the list with a 1.67% chance of making the Basketball Hall of Hame, according to Basketball Reference. The tweet containing this information currently stands at over 5.5 million views, with many comments claiming it a travesty that the former Pelican is ranked so low.

The former first-round pick from UCLA certainly has lofty credentials to stake a claim. Holiday is a 2-time NBA champion, a 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist, made two All-Star selections, and has been on the All-Defensive Team six times. He also is one of two players in NBA history to win a championship and an Olympic Gold medal in the same summer twice. The other is Scottie Pippen.

Holiday spent six seasons in New Orleans, averaging 17.6 points, 6.8 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in his 415 regular season games in the Big Easy. The 2017-2018 Pelicans team Holiday was on was the last team 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 best Olympian in Pelicans franchise history.

The list contains a few current Pelicans with odds to make the Hall of Fame. Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, and Brandon Ingram all have less than a 1% chance according to the site. The parameters to make the list are having played at least 400 games and then a slew of statistical variables such as championships, leaderboard points, win shares, and All-Star Game selections.

On the court this upcoming season, the Pelicans have a talented roster, led by Zion Williamson, Ingram, Murray, McCollum, Trey Murphy III, and Herb Jones. New Orleans is concentrating on advancing past the first round of the playoffs. They have qualified for the postseason twice in the past three seasons but saw a first-round exit on both occasions.

The Pelicans need to remain healthy and focused to contend in the Western Conference. New Orleans opens up their regular season at home against the Chicago Bulls on October 23rd.


This article first appeared on New Orleans Pelicans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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