I recently heard the great Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan say that his city’s Mount Rushmore of sports stars — one pick for each of the four major sports — is better than anyone else’s in the country.
And he might be right.
Even the Bay, with Barry Bonds or Willie Mays, Steph Curry, Joe Montana, and Joe Thornton, can’t compete with Ted Williams, Bill Russell or Larry Bird, Tom Brady, and Bobby Orr.
That Orr … he’s always the trump card in conversations like this.
But the Bay can hold its head higher than most in this regard. Three of the all-time greats and Jumbo Joe? That’s an exceptional quartet, with one, Curry, still active.
At some point, though, Curry will retire. Not you, me, or the Warriors know what happens to Golden State after that.
But it had me wondering: When Curry hangs up the Under Armours, will there be a no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famer still active for one of the Bay’s Big Four teams?
I’ll guess yes, but it might be a close call.
Let’s start with the Warriors’ candidates. If Mitch Richmond is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, Jimmy Butler is going to make it. When Ben Wallace made it, Draymond Green’s ticket to Springfield was stamped. And Steve Kerr will go in as a coach — no question about it.
That’s the thing with the Basketball Hall of Fame: Everyone gets in. Yao Ming (486 NBA games) and Manu Ginobili (13.3 points per game) both have orange suit coats. If you were good enough, they’ll find a way to enshrine you.
But will any of those three active Warriors still be active if Curry isn’t? I’m not betting on it. And a first-ballot induction might be a stretch for either Green or Butler.
The Warriors will not provide our answer here. And no one on the current Sharks roster is going to be Hall of Fame-worthy in the next decade, much less in the next couple of years.
Then there’s the Giants. I doubt Justin Verlander — a lock for Cooperstown — is still around when Curry goes. Does the director of baseball operations count as active? If he does, that’s a decent bet. As an MVP and seven-time All-Star, Posey should make the Hall. Joe Mauer made it first ballot; Posey should, too. That said, it might take a few tries and a bit of stress. The baseball hall is hardly logical. (You don’t want to start me on this.)
Which brings us to the 49ers.
There are ample candidates, to be sure: Christian McCaffrey, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, George Kittle, and Trent Williams.
All five can make a case for Canton.
As it stands today, only one is a lock Hall of Famer, and a first-ballot selection at that: Trent Williams.
That’s not to say others can’t join him in a few years, when Curry calls it quits, but there’s no guarantee in the world of professional football, so extrapolation is a dangerous game.
As such, with Williams consistently fending off retirement rumors, it might be silly to project him sticking around longer than Curry.
Whether he does or not, make no mistake about it: Williams is a lock for the Hall on the first go. It might help that offensive tackle isn’t a position defined by numbers, but here’s one for you: 11 Pro Bowls. That’s tied for the most of any tackle ever. It’s hard to imagine he won’t break that record this season, health permitting. He’s in.
The next most likely 49er to make the Hall of Fame is Fred Warner. But let’s pump the brakes on the first-ballot rhetoric.
Warner is 28 years old — his career shouldn’t be even close to being over. With four first-team All-Pro selections to his name, he has a borderline Hall of Fame resume after just seven seasons. Another All-Pro season, and he can claim as many selections as Willis. That puts him in the Hall. Two more and he’s arguably a first-ballot selection.
The time Warner needs to reach first-ballot status might line up perfectly with the time Curry needs to leave. This could be the pick, folks.
Meanwhile, George Kittle’s Hall of Fame candidacy is fascinating. I’m not sure his resume is Hall-worthy today. He’s a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, but his reputation rightfully exceeds that, thanks to his blocking ability.
If Kittle can make another All-Pro team, he’s in. He’ll be on par with Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow, and John Mackey.
Another two, and he might just be a first-ballot enshrinee.
But as it stands today, Kittle’s resume matches guys like Riley Odoms, Ben Coates, and Mike Ditka. Of the three, only Ditka, who revolutionized the position, made the Hall of Fame.
Kittle should keep a close eye on Jason Witten’s upcoming candidacy. Witten was an 11-time Pro Bowler with two first-team All-Pro honors to his name. He has double the catches and nearly double the receiving yards of Kittle, thanks to a 16-year NFL career. If he isn’t a first-ballot pick, the bar for Kittle might be higher than already stated, making first-ballot enshrinement for him a functional impossibility.
Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey simply need to play more games to even be considered for the Hall of Fame. Canton is no joke, folks.
Bosa has been a first-team All-Pro just once. He’s going to need at least one more to even warrant consideration.
And his 62.5 sacks going into 2025 aren’t even sniffing the Hall of Fame. He’ll likely need double that number if there aren’t significantly more end-of-season accolades.
As it stands, Robert Mathis, like Bosa, has only one All-Pro selection and five Pro Bowls. Mathis also has 123 sacks. He is not yet in the Hall of Fame.
Bosa can get there, but with only five healthy seasons to his name at a premium position, it’s going to take a long time before he can rest on his resume.
McCaffrey probably doesn’t have that kind of time. As a running back, he’s not in a position to play the long game. And as it stands going into the 2025 season, he’s nowhere near the Hall of Fame.
McCaffrey’s peaks are, legitimately, as good as anyone’s in the modern game. His 17-game average of 1,942 yards from scrimmage a season is stupefying. His two All-Pro selections and three Pro Bowls are a testament to that, as he has only posted five healthy seasons.
But supernova running backs like Priest Holmes, Todd Gurley, LeVeon Bell, and Jamaal Charles aren’t sniffing the Hall of Fame. McCaffrey is going to have to stay at the top of his game for a long while yet to make the case that he deserves to be in the Hall. That means at least one more All-Pro season and two more Pro Bowls — then we can have a conversation about him vs. Terrell Davis or Earl Campbell.
Which brings us back to the initial premise: Who will take over as the surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer in the Bay when Curry leaves?
It might just be Williams, who said in June that he’s going to play until the wheels come off. And if not him, then give me Warner.
Either way, the epicenter of starpower in the Bay will shift south — if it isn’t already there — and the Bay’s nearly unrivaled legacy of excellence will continue.