While we're hesitant to give the new Pat Bev Show even more of a platform, we had to address Patrick Beverley's latest take on Damian Lillard's Hall of Fame status:
"It’s too many people getting in the Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame has to be a convo of points, rebounds, assists, playoff wins, and championships. How are we gonna say no to D Rose, who has an MVP, but yes to Dame? If he gets a chip, for sure. Scoring a lot of points on ‘ok’ teams, I don’t think that gets you into the Hall of Fame."
Lillard's Hall of Fame-worthy resume speaks for itself: 9x All-Star, 7x All-NBA, Rookie of the Year, NBA 75th Anniversary Team, we could go on. But we don't even need to, considering every single eligible player with at least seven All-NBA selections has made the Hall of Fame.
Yes, Damian Lillard belongs in the Hall of Fame
Comparing Lillard's career to Derrick Rose's -- and suggesting he doesn't belong because he lacks an MVP -- is disrespecting arguably the greatest player ever to wear a Trail Blazers jersey.
For one, there's the low-hanging fruit of longevity. Rose's prime was unfortunately cut short by injuries, making this a flawed comparison from the start. Lillard has been consistently elite since entering the league. There's a reason he's the franchise's all-time leading scorer with 19,376 points and counting.
Even if you wanted to put Rose and Lillard's career peaks under a microscope, Lillard still has him beat. Rose's 2010-2011 MVP season, in which he averaged 25.0 points, 7.7 assists, and 4.1 rebounds, is often overrated. That should've been LeBron James' award had it not been for voter fatigue. Throw a dart at any season in Lillard's career, and his numbers are likely more impressive than Rose's MVP year.
But this shouldn't even be a Rose-Lillard comparison. The fact is, Lillard's career stacks up against any point guard of this era outside of Stephen Curry. If you want to complain about too many people getting into the Hall of Fame, that's one thing. But using Lillard as an example of that misses the mark entirely.
Yes, Lillard scored a lot of points on teams that were just okay. But that was a failure by the Blazers' front office to surround him with the necessary pieces, and that says more about them than it takes away from his career.
Whether Pat Bev likes it or not, Lillard's Hall of Fame case is already made, with or without a ring.