Springfield inducts Pierce, Bosh and the rest of Class of 2021.
Russell, already inducted as a player, enters Hall for his coaching career
Nine teams passed on Paul Pierce in the 1998 NBA draft, and if you think he doesn’t remember each and every one of them, then you don’t know Paul Pierce.
The newly inducted basketball Hall of Famer called out by name — in order — the teams with the first nine picks that year and thanked them for allowing him to slip to the Boston Celtics.
“I appreciate that. Thank you for passing on me. It added fuel to my fire,” Pierce, who had been expected to go as high as No. 2 overall, said in his acceptance speech in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday night. “To this day I don’t understand how I slipped to No. 10. But you know everything happened for a reason. Going to the Celtics, I’m grateful.”
Four months after the pandemicdelayed induction of the Class of 2020, including Kobe Bryant, the Hall community gathered to enshrine 16 more new members — its biggest class ever. Three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson wasn’t able to attend because she was back in Australia in lockdown.
Bill Russell, who was inducted as a player in 1975, was honored for his coaching career; he is the fifth person to be inducted as both a player and a coach. But to former President Barack Obama his greatest role was what he accomplished during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
“Bill Russell, perhaps more than anyone else, knows what it takes to win, and what it takes to lead,” Obama said in a video. “As tall as Bill Russell stands, his example and his legacy rise far, far higher.”
Others joining the Hall were: Villanova coach Jay Wright, defensive Pistons star Ben Wallace, twotime NBA champion Chris Bosh, longtime Portland and Sacramento coach Rick Adelman, Washington and Sacramento All-Star Chris Webber and two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith.
WNBA President Val Ackerman, longtime coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, scouting pioneer Howard Garfinkel were inducted as contributors. Clarence “Fats” Jenkins was picked by the Early African American Pioneers Committee, Croatia and Chicago Bulls star Toni Kukoc was tabbed by the International Committee, Bob Dandridge by the Veterans Committee and Pearl Moore from the Women’s Veterans Committee. Russell, 87, was honored as the first Black coach in NBA history.