Joe Johnson didn't play for the Utah Jazz for long, but he definitely left his mark on the franchise. He accomplished more elsewhere during his younger days. Enough that there's a case to be made that he should be in the Hall of Fame. In fact, he was recently named among the best NBA players who are not currently in the Hall of Fame.
Bleacher Report's Dan Favale listed Johnson No. 4 among the seven best NBA players who aren't in the basketball Hall of Fame. Favale explained just how impactful the Jazz alum was when he was in his prime.
"Over the course of an 11-year span, Johnson averaged more than 19 points per game and banged in 37.5 percent of his threes. This stretch included five consecutive seasons of eclipsing 20 points, as well as earning back-of-the-ballot MVP consideration. Johnson still ranks inside the top 50 of total career points," Favale wrote.
Favale also revealed a fact about Johnson that makes a pretty compelling argument for him to be in the Hall of Fame.
"More impressively, he's one of just 20 players to cross both the 20,000-point and 5,000-assist threshold. Out of that group, he's the sole player not to make the Hall of Fame or be considered a first-ballot lock."
Johnson's eligibility only just started, as his last NBA game was actually in 2022 when he played a grand total of one game for the very team that drafted him, the Boston Celtics.
(2021 was truly a different time.)
Johnson did not make it upon his first year of eligibility, but that doesn't mean he won't make it in due time. This year's class was headed by the likes of Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony, both of whom had made a much bigger mark on the NBA than Johnson did.
During a class where there aren't that many candidates to compete with, don't be surprised if Johnson gets the nod then. If Mitch Richmond can get one, Joe Johnson can too.
It'd be cool to see another Jazz alum make the Hall of Fame
Even though the Jazz have had some of the very best players to play in the NBA for the duration of their primes, they actually don't have that many alumni in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Besides the obvious names like Karl Malone and John Stockton, only six other NBA plyers who played for the Jazz are in the Hall.
That list includes Pete Maravich, Adrian Dantley, Spencer Haywood, Gail Goodrich, Bernard King, and Walt Bellamy. Jerry Sloan is also in the Hall of Fame, but also for his coaching.
To see Johnson make it too with the notable legacy he left in Utah would actually be pretty heartwarming.