...And what about the Hall of Fame? Houston came tantalizingly close to some career NBA milestones before he retired two years ago with knee injuries.
A review of records at NBA.com and Basketball Database reveals he needs 161 games played for 1,000 career, 1,689 minutes played for 30,000 career, 66 rebounds for 2,500 career, 10 assists for 2,000 career, 195 three's for 1,500 career and 449 points for 15,000 career. Some doable in a single season, others in two seasons.
And he needs only 20 three-pointers to get into the top 10 in three pointers made; 55 three's would put him in eighth place all time...although Antoine Walker, 20 ahead of him, and Brent Barry, seven behind, could change the ranking. Anything above his 40.19% career three-point average puts him into 20th place all time in long range shooting.
That's rarefied air in the annals of the NBA shooters. A combination of 30,000 minutes, 15,000 points, 1,500 three pointers, 2,500 rebounds and 2,000 assists would put him in elite company. The only others who have accomplished that are: Reggie Miller, Glen Rice, Tim Hardaway, Eddie Jones, Mitch Richmond, and Antoine Walker. Ray Allen is 441 minutes short of 30,000 minutes but has passed the other milestones while Jason Kidd is 1,627 points and 264 three's away from those milestones.
Would it be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame? Close call, tough call. But Houston has other things going for him: clutch playoff performances (but no ring) and an Olympic gold medal in 2000. He has also been one of the game's great ambassadors during his career. A successful comeback after two years off wouldn't hurt his chances either.