“The bench hall of fame” – Lou Williams expecting NBA's highest honor for himself & Jamal Crawford has fans mocking him

Lou Williams, who recently retired, is one of the finest bench scorers to have graced a basketball court. "Sweet Lou" was an icon with his fancy handles and sweet shooting and was a coveted player during his time in the NBA.

But while Williams made coming off the bench cool for some of today's players, he was inspired the most by Jamal Crawford.

Crawford, of the famous J-Crossover fame, was a talented scorer who made a living off his bench scoring. Together, the two share the record for most 6MOTY award wins, with each of them claiming the title on three different occasions.

However, both of them probably do not qualify to be what pundits or fans call Hall of Fame caliber players.

Basketball Reference's probability calculator for Hall of Fame status does not include Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford in its top 250. With players like Khris Middleton, Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell ahead of them despite their young careers, it is only safe to say that Williams and Crawford will not be making the Hall of Fame.

Lou Williams might not agree with the algorithm, however, and believes that he is a Hall of Famer by all means. And not only is he advocating for himself, but for his predecessor too. He said:

“I definitely think we all Hall of Famers. We contributed to the game. I think the Hall of Fame is what you bring to the table and being the best at what you do in the realm of basketball. I think we all did that.”

Fans took to Twitter to shred the former Clippers star for his take.

While some clearly acknowledge Sweet Lou's talent and yet dismiss his HoF contention, others certainly did go for the throat.

Lou Williams makes his Hall of Fame case

Lou Williams believes his contributions to the game are Hall of Fame worthy

The former 6MOTY made his Hall of Fame case by advocating for his contribution to the game beyond statistics. Statistically speaking, Lou Williams really does not have a strong case for the Hall of Fame, having averaged only 13.9 points a game for his career.

While Manu Ginobili's win may be compared, people fail to realize that the Argentine led his country to extremely unlikely glory and also contributed to four NBA championships, as opposed to Williams.

Sweet Lou and J-Crossover have certainly served as a prototype for scoring guards coming off the bench, but they may just not have had the impact they believe they had. Hall of Fame may be a stretch, but the three-time 6MOTY winners are certainly to be considered legends of the game.