Pandemic postpones Bryant’s Hall of Fame induction
The Basketball Hall of Fame’s enshrinement ceremony for the Class of 2020, a group that includes the late Kobe Bryant, has been delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ESPN.
The enshrinement ceremony for the nine-member group, which also includes Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, was scheduled for Aug. 29 in Springfield, Mass.
“We’re definitely cancelling,” Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, said in the ESPN report. “It’s going to have to be the first quarter of next year. We’ll meet in a couple of weeks and look at the options of how and when and where.”
The Hall of Fame didn’t immediately respond when asked by Reuters via email on Thursday to confirm the report.
According to ESPN, Colangelo also said there will be separate ceremonies for the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021, even though both events will be held in the calendar year 2021.
“We won’t be combining them,” he told ESPN. “The Class of 2020 is a very special class and deserves its own celebration.”
Bryant, one of the most dominant players in NBA history, was killed with his daughter and seven others in a January helicopter crash.
The routine at the Toronto Raptors practice facility was disrupted slightly for a good cause this week.
In addition to those players taking advantage of the one-on-one gym time the team is offering, the facility was playing host to voluntary antibodies testing open to players, coaches and staff.
It’s part of a Mayo Clinic study the NBA has joined.
The testing will confirm first whether you have already had the virus, and then if antibodies are present in your blood.
This particular test is a two-stage test with the volunteer having blood drawn through the crook of the arm, and then a second less invasive test with the finger being pricked and a smaller amount of blood drawn.
By comparing the results, the
Mayo Clinic will be able to validate whether the finger prick test is a reliable one for antibodies. The English Premier League season will restart on June 17, the BBC reported on Thursday.
The soccer season will get underway on the Wednesday date with Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United and Manchester City vs. Arsenal, which are both games in hand.
A full fixture list would then be played on the weekend of June 1921, the report said. All games will be behind closed doors.