I read an article today on ESPN.com and was astounded by what Pau Gasol has achieved in Basketball to date. From 2003 to 2009 Pau has climbed every Basketball mountain, achieving Olympic Gold, an NBA Championship and a Eurobasket Championship. I had defended him when he’d had his less than glorious moments in the 2008 NBA Finals, and had asked him to lift during the 2009 Playoffs. I then congratulated him on his efforts once the Lakers had clinched the NBA title in June. I guess we’ve all known that Pau is an extremely talented big man in the NBA but I’m not sure too many people “really” took notice of him until he reached the Lake Show. Then of course, the LA media seemed to want him to be “great” immediately to get the Lakers over the line.

When I read the headline on ESPN suggesting Pau may be ready for the Hall of Fame, due to his accomplishments on the FIBA stage, my neck hair immediately stood up. Not becuase I was excited but more because I was sick of hearing Hall of Fame talk. Since Michael Jordan’s “entertaining” speech, (yes, I said it) most of the Basketball media has been hell bent on slamming the great one. I personally enjoyed the speech and I’m still giggling/excited at the prospect of a 50-year-old MJ getting around an NBA court. It conjures up images of Sherman Klump’s Dad in the movie ”The Nutty Professor”.

But I’m getting off the point…

In my opinion, it’s all well and good to speculate on sports. There’s no doubting that. Heck, it’s safe to say Vegas does pretty well out of sports junkies desire to “guess” the outcome of sporting matchups daily. But I think we should draw the line when it comes to the Hall of Fame until players have actually hung up their kicks and given the game away.

Pau has achieved a great deal in his Basketball life and is an incredible talent. But please people, leave the Hall of Fame talk for now… it’s getting very stale. Besides, I’m sure Pau would like another crack at the Celtics before anyone gets too trigger-happy with the compliments. It’s safe to say he has some un-finished business to attend to in Bean Town.

Pau Gasol... like Erick Sermon.. a green-eyed bandit.