DeMar DeRozan Joined The Legends Of The NBA By Entering The 20,000 Points Club And Poses An Interesting Debate About The Hall Of Fame

Michael Gonzales. Getty Images.

For my money, it's always awesome when you get to witness some NBA history. There's just something cool to me about seeing shit that either has never happened before, or is extremely rare. When it comes to NBA milestones, the 20,000 point club is fairly massive and last night we officially saw another player enter that rarified air. 

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In this history of the NBA, there had only been 49 other players who broke the 20,000 points barrier. The fact that DeRozen did it with a midrange/long two pull up was perfect. I'd estimate about 17,000 of his points probably came from that shot so it doesn't get more fitting than that. The reason this is such a big deal is if you look at the list of players who have broken through 20K, it's essentially a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Of the previous 49, 15 are not in the HOF. The thing is, of that 15, these guys are locks

LeBron James

Dirk Nowitzki

Carmelo Anthony

Vince Carter

Kevin Durant

James Harden

Russell Westbrook

Dwayne Wade

Chris Paul

Pau Gasol

Steph Curry

so really that leaves 4 guys not counting DeMar who had 20K but aren't in the HOF (LaMarcus Aldridge, Joe Johnson, Tom Chambers, Antawn Jamison). Given that DeRozan is nowhere close to being done, I could see him sliding up to the mid to low 20s all time when it comes to scoring. You need around 25-26K points to get into that range, and with DeMar at 20,0026 and only 33 years old I don't think that's crazy. If you can get modest production from DeMar for the next 3-4 years, he'll get there. 

So the question becomes, is DeMar DeRozan a Hall Of Fame player? Before you answer that, understand that no player in NBA history that finishes their career in the top 47 on that all time scoring list didn't make it. It starts with Aldridge at 48 (20,558) and it's a fascinating debate because when you look at some of the other guys who may not have a title that are locks for the HOF, what separates them is they are pretty much all time greats at their position. Carmelo is one of the best scoring wings ever, Harden is an MVP and one of the best passers/scorers ever, CP3 is talked about as one of the greatest point guards ever. Westbrook is an MVP and has the numbers. Vince Carter was one of the best players of his era. They all have a body of work that warrants making the HOF even outside of their scoring total.

I don't think you can say the same about DeRozan outside of his scoring total but it's not like he's had a bad career by any means. He's a 5x (and counting) All Star and has made 3 (and counting) All NBA Teams. He's made hundreds of millions in basketball money alone. But it'll be fascinating to see if a top 25 scorer all time doesn't end up making the HOF. We simply don't have anything else to compare it to. You could want to put him in that LMA/Johnson/Chambers/Jamison group, but if DeRozan does get into that 25-26K points range and is top 25 all time, that isn't really a fair comparison to those other guys who barely got over 20K.

I think DeRozan probably falls into the Hall of Very Good and not the Hall Of Fame, but if he breaks into the top 25 I just can't see how he doesn't end up making it. At the same time even if he doesn't, putting your name right next to all these legends of the NBA has to feel pretty damn cool. Only 50 people on earth have ever done what DeRozan accomplished last night. That's wild.

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Next up is Dame who sits at 17,665 and the next guy after that who maybe has a shot is Paul George at 15,110, but he needs to obviously stay on the court and be very productive for the rest of his time in the league. Guys like Giannis (14,459) and maybe even Beal (14,344) will get there eventually, but you can see why 20K is a big deal. It's not exactly easy to do.