NBA All-Stars Webber, Sikma, Westphal among 13 Hall finalists

CHARLOTTE: Seven-time NBA All-Star Jack Sikma and five-time NBA All-Stars Chris Webber and Paul Westphal were among 13 people named Friday as finalists for 2019 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Candidates were announced as festivities began in Charlotte, North Carolina, ahead of Sunday's 68th NBA All-Star Game.

Eight players, four coaches and 28-year NBA referee Hugh Evans were among those advanced forward from screenings committees to the full selction committee. Finalists need 18 of 24 votes for election into the Hall of Fame.

Inductees will be announced in early April with enshrinement September 5-7 in ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Other NBA finalists include five-time All-Stars Sidney Moncrief and Marques Johnson, four-time Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace and eight-time AllDefensive First Teamer Bobby Jones.

Also on the list were two-time NBA Coach of the Year Bill Fitch, all-time winningest high school coach Leta Andrews, top college coaches Eddie Sutton and Barbara Stevens and five-time Women's NBA All-Star Theresa Thompson.

Sikma, who helped Seattle to the 1979 NBA crown, averages 15.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game over 14 NBA seasons and is the only center to be the most accurate free throw shooter in a season, hitting 92.2 percent in 198788.

Webber was a star at the prep and college levels, leading Michigan's "Fab Five" to the US college "Final Four" in 1992 and 1993, then jumped into the NBA and averaged more than 20 points for nine consecutive seasons. - AFP