Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees 2018: A look back at their careers

The Hall of Fame class of 2018 is a hallowed one. Among those who missed out are Chris Webber - the player with the best NBA career among the Fab Five from Michigan State, and Rudy Tomjanovich, a player and later on a coach whose quote "Never underestimate the heart of a champion" is up there among the most iconic sports quotes ever.

The following 5 players were some of the most influential players of the league in their heyday. Other than Grant Hill, all four of the others were crucial components of championship-winning teams. Unlike other veterans of his caliber in the present day, Hill did not go ring-chasing, instead preferring to stick with teams that trusted his ability to get the job done.

The following are short summaries of the reasons why the fivesome of Mo Cheeks, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and Ray Allen are being inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September this year:

#1 Steve Nash

San Antonio Spurs v Phoenix Suns, Game 2

An eight-time NBA All-Star and a seven-time All-NBA selection, Nash was named the NBA Most Valuable Player while playing for the Phoenix Suns in back-to-back seasons. Drafted by the Phoenix Suns with the 15th overall pick in the all-time great draft class of 1996, Nash played out the first 8 years of his career as a role player - although he did make an All-Star team with the Mavericks.

It was his move to the Suns as a free agent that helped turn his, and consequently the franchise's fortunes around. They improved from a 29-53 record to a 62-20 record by swapping Stephon Marbury for the Canadian all-timer. Their Seven Seconds or Less offense, crafted by Mike D'Antoni on the drawing boards and executed on the floor with Nash as the predominant ball-handler, led to players like Joe Johnson and James Jones having career defining seasons.

For a spell of 6 seasons out of 7, Nash averaged more than 10 assists per game for the Suns, who made 4 Conference Finals from 2005 to 2010. He retired with 10335 assists to his name following an ill-fated trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he spent most of his time on the bench, injured.

Nash is the best passer of the 21st century thus far, and he maximized a career built out of efficient shooting combined with his playmaking.

#2 Jason Kidd

Dallas Mavericks v Miami Heat - Game Six

The #2 overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks, Jason Kidd is one of the two players on this list who hurt their NBA legacies by turning into underperforming head coaches - Kidd was the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets team with Pierce, Garnett and Joe Johnson on it in 2013-14, and then became head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks for 3 and a half seasons before getting fired midway through their 2017-18 season.

But as a player, there are few point guards who can claim to be as effective as Kidd was on both ends of the floor. He was a sturdy defender who could guard up to 4 positions on the court - he was often the primary defender on LeBron James during the 2011 NBA Finals, causing James to shoot at below-par percentages and turn it over despite Kidd being all of 38 years old at that point.

He is 3rd on the league's all-time list of regular season triple-doubles with 107, and averaged 8.7 assists per game through 19 eventful seasons of playing in the NBA. He came into the league with almost no shooting ability, but moulded himself into a reliable 3-point shooter by his time with the New Jersey Nets, whom he led to 2 straight NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003. He was arguably the league MVP over Tim Duncan in the 2002-03 season, averaging 18.7 points, 8.9 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.

Kidd is, in my book, the third-best two-way point guard in league history behind Gary Payton and CP3.

#3 Ray Allen

The all-time leader in 3-pointers made in the NBA regular season as well as playoffs, Ray Allen's legacy as a first-ballot Hall of Famer was set the moment he set an NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers scored in a game in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals.

Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a draft-night trade, Allen used the first 6 years of his career to build his resume as one of the best two-way players in the league. A fallout with coach George Karl, however, meant that he got traded to the Seattle Supersonics in February 2003.

The best years of his career were spent with the Sonics there, as he averaged 24.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game during his time there. But his failure to find playoff success with a franchise that couldn't surround him with adequate talent led Allen to demand a trade, which sent him to the Boston Celtics to team up with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in 2007.

A title and another Finals appearance and a Conference Finals appearance done, Allen moved on to the final phase of his career as largely a spot-up shooter with the Miami Heat, winning another NBA title after hitting the greatest clutch shot in league history and making another Finals series in the final season of his career (2013-14).

Allen set a league record for most 3-pointers in a regular season campaign with 269 in the 2005-06 season, a record that has since been broken by Steph Curry several times over.

#4 Grant Hill

Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons in action

Grant Hill was to the 90s what LeBron James was to the noughties - a combo forward who had the playmaking skills of a point guard and could rebound with the best of them. He did average 9.8 rebounds per game in just his second season in the league, after all.

Drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the 3rd overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, Hill built a profile as a player who could do everything on the hardwood. But the incompetence of the Pistons franchise led to their best player walking in a sign-and-trade deal that landed them arguably the greatest defensive player of all time in Ben Wallace, along with Chucky Atkins.

Foot injuries derailed Hill's first 4 seasons with Orlando, and they failed to make the playoffs in the only year Hill played at an All Star level. The T-Mac trade gave nothing of note in return to the Magic, who, however, were able to draft Dwight Howard with the #1 overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft.

While Hill never showcased the same form from his initial years again, he was a very good role player for the Suns from 2007-2012, before spending his last season with the Clippers in 2012-13.

Grant Hill is right there with T-Mac, Derrick Rose and Bill Walton among those players who could've been all-time greats but for debilitating foot injuries.

#5 Maurice Cheeks

Mo Cheeks was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers as the 36th pick of the 1978 NBA draft, and has since gone on to become one of the few first-ballot Hall of Famers to emerge from the second round of the draft.

He was never a big-time scorer, but Cheeks was among the best two-way players in the league at his prime with the Sixers. A crucial element of their championship squad in the 82-83 season, Cheeks was the franchise's mainstay alongside Julius Erving, and later on Charles Barkley in the 80s.

His best individual year was the 1985-86 season, when he averaged 15.4 points, 9.2 assists and 2.5 steals and made the All Star team for the second time in his career. Cheeks totalled 4 All Star Game appearances (1983, 86-88).

Edited by Sai Krishna