H: Presenting the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2020
Sub: A year filled with despair in the sports world honors the basketball greats that will be inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2020
The biggest moment in professional basketball is upon the sports world once again. On April 4, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the nine honorees that led the Class of 2020.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2020 will feature the nine honorees from the North American Committee, Women’s Committee and International Committee. The honorees will be enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts, on August 29. Springfield is the “birthplace of basketball.”
The nine honorees include Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Eddie Sutton, Rudy Tomjanovich, Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens and Patrick Baumann. The nine honorees are players, coaches and an International Basketball Federation (FIBA) executive.
North American Committee Honorees
The players from the North American Committee include 18-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion Bryant, 15-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion Tim Duncan, and 15-time NBA All-Star and 2008 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics Kevin Garnett.
Bryant played his entire career as a Los Angeles Laker and recorded 33,643 points. He is fourth on the NBA’s career points list and has the second most points in an NBA game (81). Bryant died in a helicopter crash with his daughter Gianna in January and will be honored posthumously in August.
Duncan played his entire career as a San Antonio Spur and led the team to three NBA championships. He earned the Finals MVP each time. Duncan is the only NBA player in history to record 1,000 wins with a single team.
Garnett won his first and only NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. He has been a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets throughout his career. He led the league in total points, field goals made and total rebounds. He was awarded the league MVP in 2004.
Eddie Sutton is a four-time National Coach of the Year and the first coach in NCAA history to lead four different schools in the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.
Rudy Tomjanovich spent 34 consecutive years with the Houston Rockets as a player (1970-82), assistant coach (1983-92) and head coach (1992-2003). He was named the Sporting News Coach of the Year in 1993.
Women’s Committee Honorees
Tamika Catchings is a 10-time WNBA All-Star and a four-time Olympic gold medalist. Catchings won the WNBA MVP in 2011 and led the Indiana Fever to a championship the same year. She was named one of the WNBA’s 20 Players in the league’s 20-year history in 2016.
Kim Mulkey was the head coach of the Baylor Bears and led them to three NCAA National championships. She is ranked third all-time in win percentage among all head coaches. Mulkey is the first person, male or female, to win a national championship as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
Barbara Stevens was a collegiate coach for over 40 years and is the fifth coach in NCAA women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 wins. Stevens was named the Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year five times and Northeast-10 Coach of the Year 15 times.
Since 1986, she led Bentley University to 22, 25-win seasons and 10 trips to the Division 2 Fab Four with a win in the national championship in 2014. Stevens has been inducted into the New England Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
International Committee Honoree
Patrick Baumann will be inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame Class of 2020 as a contributor. Baumann contributed as an executive for FIBA and as a member of the International Olympic Committee for over 10 years. He earned the title of Secretary General of FIBA in 2002 after joining in 1994.
Baumann served as Secretary General until his passing in 2018. During that time, he focused on the youth with an expansion of 3-by-3 basketball while evolving programs and events in basketball worldwide. Baumann was a basketball player, coach and referee before he joined FIBA.
The Impact
The basketball world will honor this select group of people for their outstanding contribution to the game of basketball and everyone they have influenced over the years. Their contributions made major impacts to fans watching around the world and will leave a lasting impact for those who come after them.
Many people associated strive to reach the Hall of Fame, but this select group will forever be immortalized as some of basketball’s greats.
With a year of disaster with the coronavirus pandemic putting a hold to sports and the losses of Bryant and former NBA Commissioner David Stern, this ceremony will shed a light on a year filled with darkness and honor the best basketball has offered.
“The Class of 2020 is undoubtedly one of the most historic of all time, and the talent and social influence of these nine honorees is beyond measure,” John L. Doleva, president and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, said. “In 2020, the basketball community has suffered the unimaginable loss of iconic figures Commissioner David Stern and Kobe Bryant, as well as the game itself due to COVID-19. We have also banded together like never before in appreciation of the game and those who have made it the uniting force it is today. Today we thank the Class of 2020 for all they have done for the game of basketball and we look forward to celebrating them at Enshrinement in August.”
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic