Hall of Fame wrong again to snub Tomjanovich, Webber

Trying to navigate the labyrinth of each sport's Hall of Fame balloting habits is generally an exercise in self-defeat. The National Baseball Hall of Fame, for instance, can't come to terms with the sport's recent era of unregulated PED use, but loves to romanticize its booze-and-amphetamine soaked, racist history.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's snubbing of Rudy Tomjanovich and Chris Webber on Saturday is not egregious on that level, but it's stupid, and it raises questions.

Related: McGrady highlights 2017 Hall of Fame inductees

Springfield's tendency to enshrine still-active college coaches is questionable enough. With the announcement of Bill Self's honor this year, 10 current NCAA coaches on both the men's and women's side are now in the Hall of Fame.

Not to detract from Self's accomplishments, but college win-loss records are inflated. While Self has an impressive 623-192 all-time coaching record with one national championship at Kansas, NBA teams don't play early-season games against UNC Asheville.

Tomjanovich, though, coached in a league featuring Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, and Karl Malone. He still managed to accrue a 527-416 record and oversaw his Houston Rockets teams to back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995. The second championship came from the lowest-seeded playoff team (sixth) ever to win a Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Longevity could be what's hurting Rudy T's chances of entering the Hall - he only coached twelve-and-a-half seasons, retiring suddenly from his short stint with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005 due to health concerns.

Or could the old Michael Jordan argument be subtly at play? The Rockets' two titles came in the seasons Jordan was either retired or limited to 17 games, and debate has raged for two decades about whether those championships should come with an asterisk.

It doesn't matter. Tomjanovich belongs in the Hall of Fame.

The same case can be made for Webber. While he won Rookie of the Year as a Golden State Warrior in 1994, he didn't really hit his stride until he landed with the Sacramento Kings in 1998. For a five-year period starting then, C-Webb was the best passing big in the NBA and inarguably a top-five player.

Championships? No. But it's not like new inductee Tracy McGrady has much experience playing in June either. While T-Mac was undoubtedly the more dynamic player and a nightmare to guard one-on-one in his prime, the statistical difference between him and Webber is effectively negligible.

While McGrady played in 107 more games, both players had their careers significantly derailed by injuries around age 30.

Making things worse for Webber, his chances next year will take a hit with names like Jason Kidd and Grant Hill becoming eligible. Webber will always have to live with his less-than-flattering headlines at Michigan - the timeout, and later the Ed Martin scandal - but viewing those incidents as potential obstacles to enshrinement would be asinine.

For now, he'll just have to be happy that he was nominated.

"It was a pretty special moment to hear that I was a finalist," Webber told USA Today's AJ Neuharth-Keusch last month. "It's just humbling."