The inductees to
this year’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (HOF) were officially
announced a few weeks ago. Leading the group
are former National Basketball Association (NBA) stars Tim Duncan, Kevin
Garnett and the late Kobe Bryant. They will be joined by former Houston Rockets
coach Rudy Tomjanovich, Women’s National Basketball Association All-Star Tamika
Catchings, former collegiate coach Eddie Sutton, women’s collegiate coaches Kim
Mulkey and Barbara Stevens and former International Olympic Committee and FIBA executive
Patrick Baumann.
Formal induction ceremonies usually happen in August, but with the uncertainty
of the current situation due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, there
could be some changes.
In a CBS Sports article by Collin Ward-Henninger, he ranked the top 5 HOF
classes by basing on the group of players inducted at the same time. No HOF
class can surpass the stacked 2009 group, so, we’ll start with it.
- Class of 2009 – Michael Jordan, John Stockton, David Robinson, coaches Jerry Sloan and Vivian Stringer. No introductions needed for the 3 legends and for coach Sloan as well. Stringer, who’s still coaching the Rutgers University women’s team at the age of 72, holds one of the best records in women’s college basketball and is a legend in one’s own right.
- Class of 2020 – Duncan, Garnett and Kobe combined for 11 NBA titles and 4 MVP awards. Tomjanovich won two titles coaching the Rockets in the 90s. Catchings was a 10-time All-Star and won a WNBA title. Mulkey had 3 titles as Baylor University head coach.
- Class of 1980 – Three of the best players in NBA history can be found in this class. They are Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Jerry Lucas. However, Ward-Henninger said they lacked depth compared to the 2020 class.
- Class of 2018 – This class have three of the best point guards named Maurice Cheeks, Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, one of the best pure shooters the league had seen in Ray Allen, the versatile Grant Hill, and international player Dino Radja.
- Class of 2008 – Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Adrian Dantley, and Pat Riley headline this class. Hakeem and Riley have championship rings, Ewing is a New York Knicks legend and Dantley made shooting hoops a second nature in Utah.
Honorable mentions go to:
- Class of 1987 – Pete Maravich, Bobby Wanzer, Walt Frazier, Rick Barry, and Bob Houbregs.
- Class of 1993 – Julius Irving, Walt Bellamy, Bill Walton, Calvin Murphy, Dan Issel, Dick McGuire, Anne Meyers, and Uljana Semjonova.
- Class of 1995 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Vern Mikkelsen, Anne Donovan, Cheryl Miller, coaches John Kundla and Alexander Gomelsky, and referee Earl Strom.
- Class of 2006 – Dominique Wilkins, Joe Dumars, Charles Barkley, and coaches Sandro Gamba, and Geno Aureimma.
- Class of 2016 – Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal, Cumberland Posey, Sheryl Swoopes, and coaches Tom Izzo and John McClendon.
