Carmelo Anthony calls actor Rick Fox a Hall of Famer

It's a cliche that championship teams need great role players, but that doesn't make it any less true. Look at any of the best teams in basketball history, and they're likely to have at least two secondary players who stepped up their games to reach ultimate glory.

Yet, for all their successes, these players are usually not worthy of individual accolades like All-Star selections. When they succeed, it's in part because they're only asked to do specific things rather than control a game on their own. In other words, they are not Hall of Famers.

Don't tell that to Carmelo Anthony, though, because he says Rick Fox belongs in Springfield. I'm serious. From an interview with GQ (via TBJ):

I think people fail to realize that teams and organizations have been stacking teams since way back in the day. The Lakers had the Showtime era. Boston had six hall of famers on one team. You had Detroit, the New York Knicks, and now the Miami Heat. They were stacking their teams back then, it just fell off over the years and now it picked back up. Boston did it first, then LA. I was fortunate enough to play against them when they had Shaq, Kobe, Rick Fox, Gary Payton, Karl Malone... that's five hall of famers on one team! So you can't get mad at Miami for doing what they did. A lot of people don't agree on how they did it, or how LeBron did it.

Fox is obviously not a good enough player to make the Hall of Fame. However, Anthony's�argument only appears foolish until you realize that they induct people for reasons other than on-court play. I can only assume it's based on some sort of "contributions to the game" criterion, which certainly qualifies Fox for induction. How many other men have helped fans understand the psyche of a professional basketball player in film and television for the better part of a decade?

So chin up, Carmelo. You may receive criticism for this comment, but we all know you have a solid case. Plus, if it's not successful, we can shift our attention to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That's probably the honor Fox cares about more these days anyway.

Karl Malone Moses Malone Pete Maravich Kevin McHale George Mikan