Missed the Cut: Shawn Marion
Written by Isaac O’Neill with additional editing and contributions by Chris Howson-Jan
Resumé
- Career: 15.2 PPG / 8.7 RPG / 1.9 APG, 1.5 STL, 1.1 BLK
- Peak (2002–03 to 2005–06): 20.3 / 10.5 / 2.2, 2.1 STL, 1.4 BLK
- NBA Champion (2011)
- 4x NBA All-Star
- 2x All-NBA Third Team (2005, 2006)
Let me begin this exercise by saying that Shawn Marion is underrated. I am constantly critical of some of the weak stream of players that stumble into the Hall of Fame year after year, but I think Marion can and probably should make it in. His resume does neither his talent or career justice.
To give you some idea of his legitimate candidacy, Shawn Marion has the highest total Win Shares of all eligible Hall of Fame Candidates, at 124.9. Out of the top fifty HoF candidates in WS — guys with at least some chance of making the Hall — Marion has the 11th best WS/48 (0.150).
Suns win total by year during Marion’s tenure:
- * D’Antoni becomes head coach after 21 games; 21–40 record
- ** First Steve Nash season
- *** Stoudemire injured; plays 3 games
The Suns’ cast of players in Marion’s early years were not strong by any stretch, but they were not awful either. I need not mention how much the return of Steve Nash to the Suns influenced their winning over the next few years. Coupled with Amar’e Stoudemire and Marion entering their primes, and the famous D’Antoni offence, Marion played 3.5 excellent years for the Suns. During that period, they had three seasons in which they had a good or very good chance to win the title; for a variety of reasons, they came up short every time.
Always concerned about being under-appreciated, Marion’s insecurities unfortunately began to rise to the surface after the Suns’ heartbreaking loss to the Spurs in the second round of the 2007 playoffs. Tired of being considered the third-best player on the team, Marion requested a trade before the following season. He played well in the 07–08 season, but saw his usage rate decline to a career low for the third consecutive season. Marion got his wish, and was traded to the Heat at the trade deadline for an aging Shaq in a blockbuster deal. First year GM Steve Kerr went for broke, hoping Shaq could still be the same player that won a title with the Heat just two seasons prior.
The Suns had the best record in the West when they traded Marion, but their interior D was one of worst in the league. Shaq added size and strength to fight against Tim Duncan in the playoffs. It also meant Stoudemire could play at 4 instead of 5. In other words, hindsight is 20/20; the trade was certainly seen as a risk, but was by no means considered a bad one at the time. In the end, however, it was a flop for both sides.
Marion played only 58 games over two seasons for the rebuilding Heat. In February of 2009, Marion was traded to the Raptors, this time for Jermaine O’Neal, yet another star in a sub-optimal situation. Marion finished out the season for the Raps, playing only 27 games for them before moving to the Mavericks in a sign-and-trade in the summer of 2009. From the beginning of his Mavs tenure, he took on a reduced role, scoring 12 PPG in his first season; he would go on to average similar numbers over his five years with the Mavs.
Though Marion will remain a Sun in most people’s memory, he deserves extra credit for his contribution to the Mavs in the 2011 Finals versus the Miami Heat. After starting only 27 games on 28 MPG in the regular season, Marion started all 21 games in the playoffs, and averaged 35 MPG in the Finals. His offence did not look like it did in his Phoenix days; he shot (and missed) just one 3-point attempt over the course of the Finals. His key contribution was doing a more than serviceable job guarding LeBron for large portions of the series. Yes, LeBron was in many ways in his own head — with JJ Barea famously guarding him for stretches — but Marion was the primary guy. The main players that get credit for Dallas’ title are Dirk, the Jasons (Terry and Kidd), and Tyson Chandler, but I think it’s unfair to Marion to exclude him from that group. Without Marion’s signing, it’s very possible the Mavs do not win the title; no one else on the roster had the physical profile to match up against James, and Marion deserves major credit. His versatility was extremely useful against the perimeter play of the large wings on Miami. It also gave Rick Carlisle the freedom to play a smaller backcourt, substituting JJ Barea in for DeShawn Stevenson in games 4–6 of the series, all Mavericks wins.
Marion’s defence is underrated overall. He never made an All-Defensive team, despite finishing 5th, 7th, and 4th in Defensive Player of the Year voting, from 2005–2007. Instead the attention went to Raja Bell, who made All-Defensive teams in 2007 and 2008. He was no doubt important to the Suns, considering Nash’s offensive workload and defensive shortcomings, but Marion was the key guy who could arguably guard positions 1 through 5. Today, we know more than ever how important that versatility is, and it’s a shame Marion didn’t get proper credit during his playing days. The stats back up the eye test as well; since 1974, there have been 186 seasons in which a player has averaged 3+ stocks (steals + blocks) per 100 possessions. Marion has 7 of them, peaking in 2005–06 with 3.7 stocks (1.7 stl + 2 blks). The only other players who share this distinction of 7+ seasons at 3+ stocks: Julius Erving, Chris Webber, Marcus Camby, Kevin Garnett, Ben Wallace, and Anthony Davis.
Eligible Pyramid (and near-Pyramid) players not yet in the Hall of Fame:
- Tom Chambers (1998)
- Kevin Johnson (2000)
- Shawn Kemp (2003)
- Chris Webber (2008)
- Chris Bosh (2016)*
- Amar’e Stoudemire (2016)*
Bosh and Stoudemire will both get into the Hall eventually. Their first year of eligibility was the famed class of Garnett, Duncan, and Kobe, leaving them to wait. Stoudemire may not make our Pyramid either, but needs further consideration.
It’s funny how many Phoenix Suns are on this list. I suppose that means that Simmons, and Chris and myself, agree that if you’re a top three player on a team that couldn’t quite make it over the hump, you shouldn’t be punished too severely. There’s a case to be made that the 1993 Suns and the mid-2000s Suns (whichever year you want to pick) are the two best teams to not win a ring in their respective decade. Their closest competition might be the 1996 Sonics and 2002 Kings respectively, covering another two members of the above list. We all know how much luck plays a role in winning a championship; it’s not unreasonable to say if things broke slightly differently for any of the other four players, and they’d won a ring, they would comfortably be in the Hall of Fame already. What this list shows is that the Hall of Fame probably slightly overrates rings, not rewarding guys who came extremely close. This is also why Shawn Marion deserved consideration for the Pyramid.
Four All-Star appearances for Marion seems right. Most of the guys with 5 or 6 All-Stars, at a glance, feel like better players than Marion was. There are some great players with only 7 or 8 appearances. There are others with 7 or 8 appearances who didn’t make the Top 100. Given his opportunity to play with Nash, his opportunity to help Dallas win a championship, and his short prime, I don’t think Marion’s career was a notably unlucky one. He had plenty of good and bad go his way.
Marion’s biggest asset by far is his ability to plug him into virtually any style of team and have him be a capable 3rd-best player on a championship team. He is a great roll man in the pick and roll, he can spot up, make the extra pass, cut and offensive rebound well, run well in transition, and with the defensive capabilities to guard multiple positions to boot. In Jack McCallum’s Seven Seconds or Less, written during the 2005–06 season, Mike D’Antoni says the Suns essentially ran no plays designed for Marion, a year in which he averaged 22 points per game. He may have been high maintenance emotionally (according to Seven Seconds or Less), but he is one of the most low maintenance stars of his era on the court. This adaptability is useful in any era, but we recognize its value more than ever in today’s era.
If you examine the lower tier players on the Top 100, they were either good for a long period of time, great for a short period of time, and/or contributed to one or more championship teams. Marion does not fit any of those criteria. I do think his ceiling is much higher than people give him credit for. He was as athletic as any small forward in the league not named LeBron. Regardless, he was merely very good, and only for a short period of time.
His career is a good example of how hard it is to be good in the NBA for an extended period. He had a great situation through his prime, and once that run ended, was not able to make it back to his All-Star level. His teams on the front end were bad, but there was no standout season where he got snubbed out of an All-Star vote. He got unlucky having a year and a half wasted on weak Miami and Toronto teams. But he was 31 by the time he got to Dallas. By that point, he was only a solid role player, no longer in any contention for All-Star berths. Championship aside, his regular seasons are impressive but leave one wanting more in the latter half of his career. In our broader list of great players that need to be examined further, my gut says Marion lands behind current players such as Kevin Love, Chauncey Billups, and Kyle Lowry; those players have similar numbers of All-Star appearances, but all of them played integral roles on championship teams. Marion did enough in his career to earn the respect of any fan, but he doesn’t quite meet the threshold of our list.
