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The NBA Hall of Fame award, also known as the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame award, was created to honor outstanding players that have impacted the game over a long period, promoting and preserving the history of the sport. It is awarded to outstanding individuals in the professional and amateur categories of the sport. The award is named after the founder of basketball, Dr. James Naismith; and was established in 1959 with the induction of the Lakers center George Mikan.
Located in Springfield, the Hall of Fame is used to celebrate and keep records of notable people and achievements made in the sport, as each year individuals are nominated and considered for induction. The nomination process is as complicated as the awarding process itself, with many factors to be considered before one can be eligible for the process.
Here is a list of players since the 2010s, that could make a case for being selected for the 2022 Hall of Fame class.
#5 Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook is one of the few candidates for a Hall of Famer pick yet to win a Championship ring, making it to this list on account of sheer quality, stats and influence on the game. The new Lakers man managed another magnificent individual season in 2020-21, maintaining his status as a world-class offensive player and averaging triple-doubles for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Further taken into context is his status as a US gold medalist and FIBA World Cup winner. He has a record for the most number of triple-doubles by a player in an NBA season with 42, and holds the record for most career triple-doubles in NBA history (184), surpassing Oscar Robertson (181).
#4 Steph Curry
Only a few players in history can be said to have possessed the kind of offensive repertoire of Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry. Alongside teammates like Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, he helped turn the Warriors into the most dominant NBA team in the past decade, having gotten them to feature in five NBA finals and win a total of three in the process.
Curry originally broke out as the NBA's most elite three-point shooter and has since gone on to cement his standing as one of the best three-point shooters in the league's history with a 43.3% career mark. He holds the record as the second-best all-time three-pointer in NBA history, slightly behind Ray Allen. Curry is on course to beat Allen's record of 2,973 threes, with only a difference of 141. Despite a less than ideal start to 2020s by the Warriors and Curry. His position as a future Hall of Famer is nonetheless certain, with an impact on the game so vast that he is widely credited with revolutionizing the game of basketball in the past decade.
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#3 James Harden
Like Westbrook, James Harden is one of the few NBA players on this list with a shot at being a Hall of Famer who is yet to win a championship ring. However, this only speaks volumes about his ability as a player and his contribution to the game. Boasting offensive ability and individual stats that could rival the greatest in the game.
A US gold Olympic medalist, 2014 FIBA winner and three-time scoring champion. Harden ranks 11th in career points per game (25.1) by a player in NBA history. A sure pick for a possible 2022 Hall of Fame slot based on raw talent and statistics, the Brooklyn Nets player is the only player to have recorded the most 50-point games this past decade (23).
#2 Kevin Durant
Considered by many as the best overall basketballer in the NBA in the past decade, Kevin Durant is definitely a worthy contender who can make a case for the Hall of Fame pick. The Brooklyn Nets man was credited by many as being the final piece of the puzzle in the Golden State Warriors' rise to NBA dominance in 2016, forming an exhilarating partnership with Steph Curry, and winning his first and subsequent back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, picking up the NBA Finals MVP award along the way.
His importance to their success was never more apparent than in the 2018-19 NBA Finals, where the Warriors' failed to secure a historic three-peat against the Toronto Raptors, with Durant absent due to an injury. KD has also won the 2010 FIBA World Championship, three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, 2020) out of a possible three, which caps off the impressive decade he has had.
#1 Lebron James
Arguably the face of the NBA for the better part of a decade. LeBron James' achievements and contributions to the game are too numerous to mention. He has been likened and often compared to the basketball legend, Michael Jordan.
The youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points, James has enjoyed an extraordinary career thus far, being the only player to win the NBA finals with three different franchises in all of the past decade. However, his greatest achievement will undoubtedly be propelling the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA championship in their historic comeback against the Golden State Warriors in 2016, ending their trophy drought of 52 years. His performance in that final saw him become the first player in history to lead all players in a playoff series in all five categories (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals), making his claim as a future Hall of Famer.
