Top 10 NBA Hall of Famers who passed away
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NBA Hall of Fame
In 76-years of history, NBA has witnessed many greats entertaining the crowd, winning the titles, and even raising the standards of the game with their own style. Very few of them considered impactful enough to make to the NBA Hall of Fame. Making the Hall of Fame is a prestigious award. Since the National Basketball Association began 75 years ago, there have been many players, coaches, and officials that have been enshrined. Some players might have been inducted for their play in the early leagues before the NBA, we will look into NBA career players to make it more relevant.
Starting from 1959, first class of Hall of Fame players included 4 players, while since then there have been 174 different players inducted in the elite list with over 110 players played in the NBA. Unfortunately, several players have passed away, dating back to over 50 years ago. Here is the list of Top 10 Hall of Famers NBA has lost over the period of time. Though there can’t be a ranking among all those NBA greats, we have tried to put them in order of their number of NBA titles.
1. Bill Russell (1934-2022)
Awards And Achievement: 11x NBA Champion, 5x MVP Award, 12 All-Star, 3x All-NBA First Team, 8x All-NBA Second Team, 1x All-Defensive First Team, 4x Rebounding Leader
Career Stats: 15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG, 4.3 APG
Undoubtedly the greatest winner of the league. He won NBA 11 titles with the Boston Celtics, most by any star in history of the league. Bill Russell is regarded as the greatest winner in any sport. Honoring him, NBA has named the Finals MVP trophy after him. He spent his 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics and now has his jersey retired by entire league. Russell passed away at 88 years old in his home due to natural causes.
2. Tom Heinsohn (1934-2020)
Awards And Achievement: 8x NBA Champion, 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA Second Team, Rookie of the Year
Career Stats: 18.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.0 APG
Heinsohn has been the Celtics legend by all means. He was associated with the franchise for six decades. He played every possible role in the franchise right from a player, coach, and even a broadcaster. He won 8 titles for the Celtics from 1956 to 1965. He had short bit winning career as foot injury forced him to retire early. But as a coach also he won 2 titles for the franchise and was even named coach of the year in 1973. At 86 years old, he passed away in his home due to kidney failure.
3. John Havlicek (1940-2019)
Awards And Achievement: 8x NBA Champion, 1x Finals MVP, 13 All-Star, 4x All-NBA First Team, 7x All-NBA Second Team, 5x All-Defensive First Team, 3x All-Defensive Second Team, All-Rookie First Team
Career Stats: 20.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.3 BPG
Relentless and untiring player of his era, Havlicek was a two-way sensation. Havlicek finished his career as the all-time leader in point’s scorer for the Boston Celtics. On top of that, he was an eight-time All-Defensive Team selection. He was a part of the dominant 60s Celtics team, but then he led the Celtics to two championships in the 70s on his own. He even won Finals MVP in 1974. Havlicek died about two weeks after his 79th birthday after battling Parkinson’s Disease.
4. Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)
Awards And Achievement: 5x NBA Champion, 2x Finals MVP, 1x MVP Award, 18x All-Star, 4x All-Star Game MVP, 11x All-NBA First Team, 2x All-NBA Second Team, 2x All-NBA Third Team, 9x All-Defensive First Team, 3x All-Defensive Second Team, 2x Scoring Champion, 1x Slam Dunk Contest Champion, All-Rookie Second Team
Career Stats: 25.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.5 BPG
Kobe was a Player who kept the technicalities of the game intact and won with hard-work and passion. Potentially the best player we saw in the modern era since Michael Jordan. He delivered 3-peat for the Lakers and nearly had quadruple success for the team. Then he then won back-to-back titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, where he was Finals MVP. Known as “Black Mamba”, Bryant was a lethal scorer. He spent his whole career with the Lakers and finished his career with memorable game winning 60 points against Jazz. Bryant died too young, at 41 years old, after a tragic helicopter crash killed Bryant and his 13-year old Daughter.
5. Jim Pollard (1922-1993)
Awards And Achievement: 5x NBA Champion, 4x All-Star, 2x All-NBA First Team, 2x All-NBA Second Team
Career Stats: 13.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.2 APG
Jim Pollard was the Lakers 1st ever pure megastar who delivered number of titles for the team. Pollard played his entire career for the Minneapolis Lakers, where he won five championships. After basketball, Pollard pursued a long career in coaching from 1955 to 1972. Known for his ‘Leap’, the forward was nicknamed “The Kangaroo Kid.” Many claimed that he could dunk from the free throw line. He would later die at the age of 70 years old.
6. George Mikan (1924-2005)
Awards And Achievement: 5x NBA Champion, 4x All-Star, All-Star Game MVP, 6x All-NBA First Team, 3x Scoring Champion, NBA Rebounding Leader
Career Stats: 23.1 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 2.8 APG
George Mikan was first of 4 to be inducted in NBA Hall of Fame and was considered one of the toughest players of his era. His career was cut short due to injuries that he often played through. 6’10” center won scoring title for 3 consecutive seasons in NBA and won five championships. He would also win the scoring championships. It is assumed that NBA formulated some new rules looking at Mikan’s dominance. Mikan died at 80 years old after complications from diabetes and other ailments.
7. Slater Martin (1925-2012)
Awards And Achievement: 5x NBA Champion, 7x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Second Team
Career Stats: 9.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 4.2 APG
Slater can be seen as one of very few in the list with lesser impressive stat-line. But Martin is regarded as one of the best defensive players in the 1950s. He was part of Mikan team and won four championships with for the Lakers. Martin would win another title with the Hawks in 1958. Defensive abilities recognition were very later part of NBA discussions, but Martin could be the regular name in those stats. At 86 years old, Martin passed away after a battle with a brief illness.
8. Vern Mikkelsen (1928-2013)
Awards And Achievement: 4x NBA Champion, 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA Second Team
Career Stats: 14.4 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.2 APG
Ever so fit and injury free player I this list is Vern Mikkelsen. He played in 699 out of 704 possible games, and was considered an “iron man” by the end of his playing career. He won 4 NBA titles with the Lakers, was regarded as one of the league’s first power forwards. 50’s era was dominated by the Lakers with the trio of Mikan-Mikkelsen-Martin. In 2013, he died peacefully surrounded by his family at 85 years old.
9. Bill Sharman (1926-2013)
Awards And Achievement: 4x NBA Champion, 8x All-Star, 1x All-Star Game MVP, 4x All-NBA First Team, 3x All-NBA Second Team
Career Stats: 17.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.0 APG
Sharman’s time was primarily with the Celtics during the 50s alongside Bob Cousy. The backcourt duo of Cousy and Sharman was considered one of the best back then. That is why the two won four championships together, while Sharman made eight All-Star appearances and seven All-NBA selections. Sharman enjoyed a successful basketball career that also included one title as a coach and five titles as an executive. Sharman eventually died at 87 years old due to a stroke.
10. Dennis Johnson (1954-2007)
Awards And Achievement: 3x NBA Champion, 1x Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 1x All-NBA First Team, 1x All-NBA Second Team, 6x All-Defensive First Team, 3x All-Defensive Second Team
Career Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG
Johnson had a successful career for someone drafted with the 29th pick of the draft. He helped the Seattle SuperSonics win the NBA championship in 1979 and won the Finals MVP Award. He would win two more championships as a member of the Celtics as the team’s starting point guard. Johnson was a nine-time All-Defensive selection as well. To many, he was a truly underrated player during his career. Johnson died at 52 years old after suffering a heart attack.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)