Shawn Marion will one day make the Basketball Hall of Fame

One day, when my son is older, probably around the time he’s 10 or 11, I’m going to sit him down and we’re going to watch a lot of game tape of Shawn Marion. His sheer versatility stood out his entire career and when considering the current small-ball era in the NBA, it’s clear Marion was a pioneer who deserves more credit for his place in the game and where basketball has evolved it. Marion is the kind of player I can’t wait to talk about, once (and if) my boy really gets into the game.

Michael Lee wrote the kind of story for the Athletic that serves as a great reminder of the top notch written content they produce in his case for Shawn Marion making the Basketball Hall of Fame and you should really read the whole thing. But with Fox Sports Southwest re-running the playoff victories from the 2011 playoffs (including game four against Miami, which Josh recovered brilliantly here), it’s worth highlighting Marion’s specific thoughts on the NBA Finals as he discusses his career with Lee:

“Everybody that picked Miami to win it before it started, we was laughing. We thought y’all was full of shit, to be honest with you. We was one of the three or four teams at the time, that going into the season, legitimately had a chance to win a championship. If you didn’t see that, I don’t know what the hell you was looking at. I guess you wasn’t looking at the TV.”

In addition to putting up one of the most unique statistical profiles for a player in NBA history, Marion was the co-leader of a defense which stymied a host of MVPs and future Hall of Famers on the way to a NBA championship. Think about this: Shawn Marion spent time guarding Brandon Roy, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, and Lebron James and he never even made an All-Defense team let alone a Defensive player of the year.

I remember being relieved when Dallas traded for Marion simply because he guarded Dirk Nowitzki as well as anyone during Dirk’s career. He was that good on defense and pair that with the variety and impact of his offensive game, Marion’s the kind of player we’ll only celebrate more as time goes on. Read all of Lee’s profile and tell your loved ones about Shawn Marion. He’s going to make the Hall of Fame one day.