Hall of Fame call changes Dantley's tune

Nuggets assistant's mood swings from frustration to elation

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 7, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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Photo by Melissa Majchrzak / NBAE Via Getty Images/2007

Adrian Dantley will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in early September.

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Tom Petty sang, "The waiting is the hardest part." That could have been the theme for Goose Gossage, Art Monk and Adrian Dantley.

Gossage waited 14 years after his retirement to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Finally, the call came in January that the relief pitcher and Colorado Springs native made it.

Monk waited 13 years after his final game for the Pro Football Hall of Fame to call. At last, the receiver got the nod in February.

Dantley had them both beat, agonizing for 17 years after his retirement. But finally, the two-time NBA scoring champion and Nuggets assistant coach was announced Monday in San Antonio, site of the Final Four, as a member of the 2008 class of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Dantley, 52, had drawn inspiration from Monk and Gossage.

"I talked to Art after he (made it), and he was pretty happy," said Dantley, a native of Washington who is friendly with Monk, who played primarily with the Washington Redskins. "He was glad it was over. I didn't talk to Goose Gossage, but he's (from Colorado) and he had waited a long time, so I could relate to that."

Dantley is one of seven members of the class that will be enshrined Sept. 4-6 at the Hall in Springfield, Mass. Others are legendary NBA centers Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon, five-time NBA title-winning coach Pat Riley, ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale, Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson and pioneering women's college coach Cathy Rush.

Dantley was a finalist for the seventh time in eight years. In conversations with Monk after several rejections, Monk did his best to soothe Dantley.

"One thing is that Art never says anything bad about anybody," said Dantley, who missed Sunday's game at Seattle to travel to San Antonio but will return to the Nuggets for tonight's game against the Clippers. "That's unlike me. When I didn't make it, I was saying a few things."

Riley figured Dantley, who averaged 24.3 points with five NBA teams from 1976 to 1991, held up pretty well despite his many snubs.

"I'm wondering why he's not in a straitjacket in an insane asylum," said Riley, who, like Ewing and Olajuwon, made it in his first year of eligibility.

Riley was the Los Angeles Lakers' traveling secretary in the late 1970s, when Dantley played for them. He recalled handing out boarding passes and Dantley groaning when he had to sit next to Kareem Abdul-Jabber if the center was in a bad mood.

Most of all, Riley remembers Dantley the scoring machine.

"There's no doubt he was a great player," Riley said of facing Dantley when Riley coached the Lakers from 1981 to 1990. "We had virtually no one who could guard him."

Ewing said Dantley never has gotten proper due for what he did as an undersized power forward. The 6-foot-5 Dantley won scoring titles with Utah in 1980-81 and 1983-84, his fourth straight season averaging more than 30 points.

"People talk about Charles Barkley, but it was amazing what (Dantley) could do for his size," Ewing said. "They never talked about this guy in the same token. . . . You've got to be a remarkable player in this league to average 30 points over a four-year period."

Dantley got the word of being a Hall of Famer in a call Thursday.

"(Monday was) a big day for me. . . . It's pretty exciting being (in San Antonio)," Dantley said. "Just when I wake up every morning the last couple of mornings, I still say, 'Am I really in the Hall of Fame?' I'm not dreaming. It's for real."

The tune finally has changed for Dantley. Petty also sang the song, Runnin' Down a Dream.

NUGGETS AT CLIPPERS

* When: 8:30 MDT tonight.

* Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles.

* TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-FM (104.3).

* Probable starting lineups

Denver (46-31) Pos. Ht. Pts.

15 Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 25.9

4 Kenyon Martin F 6-8 12.7

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 9.3

3 Allen Iverson G 6-0 26.3

25 Anthony Carter G 6-2 7.9

Coach: George Karl

L.A. Clippers (23-54) Pos. Ht. Pts.

12 Al Thornton F 6-8 12.5

42 Elton Brand F 6-8 17.7

21 Josh Powell C 6-9 5.6

13 Quinton Ross G 6-6 4.1

22 Brevin Knight G 5-10 4.7

Coach: Mike Dunleavy

* Injuries: Nuggets - F Nene (right groin strain) is questionable. Clippers - C Paul Davis (right knee surgery), C Chris Kaman (sprained right ankle), G Shaun Livingston (dislocated right knee) are out; F Corey Maggette (strained right hamstring) is doubtful; F Tim Thomas (sore left and right Achilles') is probable.

* Note: The Nuggets are tied with Golden State for the No. 8 playoff seed in the Western Conference.

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