It has been a heck of a summer for Jrue Holiday. Not only did he help the Boston Celtics win their 18th NBA championship, but he also won a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics.
That has prompted a rather intriguing question: is Holiday a Hall-of-Famer?
It’s something that wasn’t even a conversation a year ago, but now that Holiday has two NBA titles and a couple of Olympic gold medals to his name, it’s worth a discussion.
Zach Harper of The Athletic absolutely thinks that Holiday has a case, listing off all of his accolades and mentioning that he may very well be the best perimeter defender of his generation.
Interestingly enough, Holiday is approaching passing Celtics legend Bob Cousy in all-time assists, which is a nice little add-on to a resume that also includes six All-Defense selections (three First-Team) and a couple of All-Star appearances.
Holiday’s numbers don’t jump off the page. He boasts lifetime averages of 16.1 points, 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game on 46.3/37.1/78.4 shooting splits. He has never been a No. 1 option, and an argument can be made that he has never even been a legitimate No. 2. But his ubiquitous presence defensively makes him one of the better two-way players of the last decade.
Harper notes 2024 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Michael Cooper as a comparison, noting Cooper’s defensive prowess. Cooper logged just 8.9 points per game for his career, but played a significant role in helping the Los Angeles Lakers win five championships. He also won a Defensive Player of the Year award.
Jrue Holiday may cement his case if the Celtics repeat
If the Celtics end up repeating as NBA champions next season and Holiday represents a key cog in the run, the UCLA product may end up cementing himself as a future Hall-of-Famer.
It would give Holiday three championship rings, and if he makes yet another All-Defensive team, he may need to star preparing his speech in Springfield.
And you know what? Boston may very well win the title again in 2025.
The Boston Celtics are running it back with the same roster as this past year, and now, they have a championship run under their belts.
Boston won 64 games and stampeded through the playoffs, losing a grand total of three games in the postseason. And that was with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined for most of the playoff run.
Jrue Holiday may very well be on the verge of basketball immortality.
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