The Knicks Fix

On Friday the Basketball Hall of Fame will announce the its Hall of Fame class for 2007. The first timers are Chris Mullin and Phil Jackson (as a coach). But it is the holdovers from past snubs that makes for an interesting list to debate. There's Adrian Dantley Dennis Johnson and Maurice Cheeks.

And then there's Bernard King. His gaudy career numbers -- 22.5 points per game and 19,655 career points -- are only eclipsed by Dantley, who played in 81 more games (basically a season) than King. Dantley averaged 24.3 points per game throughout his career and recorded 23,177 career points.

So if you had to choose one or the other, whom would you choose?

The argument for BK to be in the Hall is based on the fact that throughout his injury-plagued career, he was one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA. Before Michael Jordan arrived, King was the definition of the unstoppable one-man show on what was a mediocre team. He won an NBA scoring crown in 1984-85, had back-to-back 50 point performances and then later in his career made an inspirational comeback from a career-threatening knee injury to re-establish himself as one of the game's top scorers (of course he did this after he went to the Bullets).

What works against him is that he never led the Knicks to any real playoff glory other than the first-round upset over Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons in 1984. He did his thing during the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era and at a time in the NBA when the small forward position was the prime spot. The 1980s was an era of high-scoring swingmen like Bird, Dantley, Dominique Wilkins and Mark Aguirre. Where does King rank among them?

* - King is 31st on the NBA all-time scoring list, which is incredible considering he only played in 874 games.
* - His career average of 22.5 points per game is 23rd on the NBA all-time list
* - He is one of only 19 players in NBA history to score 60 or more points in a game
* - He had eight games in which he scored 50 or more points

I think King's career is an inspiring one just based on the fact that he persevered through the knee injuries. His lack of games hurts him in comparison to others as far as longevity goes, but his numbers are right up there with the best.

What do you think?