When you think of Boston Celtics wing Jrue Holiday, the first thing that probably comes to your mind isn't “Hall of Famer.” However, NBA legend Reggie Miller said on The Dan Patrick Show that he thinks Holiday will absolutely be in the Hall of Fame one day.
Patrick provided some pushback, saying that Holiday belongs in the “Hall of Very Good.” Miller then compared Holiday to Joe Dumars, to which Patrick responded by saying that Dumars spent his entire career with the Detroit Pistons while Holiday has played for four different teams.
Still, Miller didn't relent, saying that Holiday's defensive value is what will ultimately vault him into the Hall. He mentioned how Holiday won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks, and then the Bucks traded him in a deal for Damian Lillard to try and upgrade offensively. That didn't work out for Milwaukee.
Holiday owns career averages of 16.1 points, 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals over 33.1 minutes per game. He has made First-Team All-Defense three times and has been a Second-Team All-Defender on three other occasions. He made Second-Team All-Defense and finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting with the Celtics this season.
Basketball Reference gives Holiday a 0.75 percent chance of making the Hall of Fame, which obviously isn't very high.
Jrue Holiday's value isn't always measurable
What may end up keeping Holiday out of the Hall of Fame is that he simply doesn't have the numbers.
He has been good across the board, but he hasn't been great from a statistical perspective. The thing with Holiday is that he—at the risk of sounding cliche—will do things that don't show up on the stat sheet, much like Marcus Smart used to during his Celtics days.
Holiday can guard multiple positions thanks to his length, strength, athleticism, footwork and instincts. He is able to combine all of those different skills, and it has made him one of the best, most consistent defenders in the NBA on a nightly basis.
Is Holiday as destructive of a defender as someone like Smart or Dennis Rodman? No. With those guys, you physically see/saw how dominant they are/were defensively. That isn't the case with Holiday, who is more about great positional defense, outstanding communication and brilliant reads.
It must be said, though, that most of what Holiday did was definitely visible in Boston's Game 1 Eastern Conference Finals win over the Indiana Pacers, as Holiday finished with 28 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals in what may have been his best game as a member of the Celtics.
Boston acquired Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers almost immediately after the Blazers landed him in the aforementioned Lillard deal last October.
Holiday may very well have been the final piece of the puzzle for the Celtics, who won 64 games during the regular season and are now three wins away from their second NBA Finals appearance in three years.
Is Holiday a Hall-of-Famer? Probably not. He has only earned two All-Star appearances, after all. But the effusive praise he has received from Miller is certainly deserved.
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