2017 class could have a Houston ring to it
Rockets greats hoping to hear names called
NEW ORLEANS — Rudy Tomjanovich never wanted to ask for more. Basketball had been too good to him to wish for a place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, too, even if so many peers and friends insisted that he belongs.
But Saturday, as Tomjanovich was named a finalist for the Hall of Fame’s class of 2017, he thought of last summer, when he joined so many of Yao Ming’s friends and family in Springfield and allowed himself to think of sharing that with all those that could be part of putting him in the hall, too.
“That’s what I’m all about,” Tomjanovich said. “I would not have done any of this stuff without other people. That’s how I coach. That’s how I played. It’s a team thing all the way. If I have a chance to mention the people along the way that helped me, and a lot of them are gone, but to thank them for this beautiful journey I’ve been on, would be very nice.”
Tomjanovich still has a significant step to go to reach Springfield.
Of the 14 finalists named on Saturday, Tomjanovich is among seven coaches, including former finalists Robert Hughes, who became the winningest boys basketball coach ever at Fort Worth Dunbar; Notre Dame women’s coach Muffet McGraw; and former Wisconsin coach and fourtime Division III national champion Bo Ryan. Former Villanova coach Rollie Massimino, Kansas coach Bill Self and Baylor coach Kim Mulkey also became finalists. Humbling experience
Former Rockets guard/ forward Tracy McGrady was made a finalist in his first year of eligibility, along with Chris Webber, Tim Hardaway and Sidney Moncrief. Former Connecticut and WNBA star Rebecca Lobo and longtime official Hugh Evans are finalists as contributors. The Wayland Baptist Flying Queens, the 10-time AAU women’s national champion, return as finalists as a team.
The class of 2017 will be announced at the Final Four in Phoenix.
For Tomjanovich, becoming a finalist for the first time, already was a humbling experience along with a reminder of how far he had come as a coach.
Tomjanovich was made a Hall of Fame finalist 25 years to the day after he reluctantly replaced Don Chaney as coach.
“We came into the office and Steve (Patterson) said, ‘I know what you guys are going to say. You can’t save him.’ I had no idea what was coming next,” Tomjanovich said. “Carroll (Dawson) said, ‘If you don’t do it, we don’t have jobs.’ I had to take the job.
“All I know is I’ve been so grateful to basketball for what it’s done for my life and all the joy and relationship. Basketball has given me so much. To give me even more will be like a cherry on top. But I’m pretty happy with the cake right now.” ‘It’s so surreal’
McGrady was similarly thrilled, saying he never dreamed of one day being in the Hall of Fame and until he was nominated Dec. 21 did not know he was eligible.
“It’s so surreal,” McGrady said. “I’m only 37-years-old. For me to be up for this, I can’t fathom it. This is unbelievable.”
McGrady said he would have had greater postseason success had Grant Hill stayed healthy in Orlando or he and Yao had been healthy in Houston.
“I felt we had a championship team when we added Ron Artest, Metta World Peace,” McGrady said. “That was a championship roster and I got hurt. I was never the same player after that microfracture surgery.
“There was nothing I could have done. If you go back and look at my regular season and what I did in the playoffs, I elevated my game. I just went up against teams that were better than us.”
McGrady, however, said players should not define themselves or each other by championships.
“I don’t feel winning a championship solidifies me as a player because everyone is not lucky,” McGrady said. “It doesn’t define me as a player. I was not the type of guy who was going to go chase a championship.” ‘Here I am now’
McGrady eventually was a part of a Spurs championship team, though he played just 31 scoreless minutes in that postseason. For McGrady, a place in the hall would be his championship.
“Individually, anybody can win a championship,” he said. “Not having the luxury of playing with a Shaquille O’Neal or a Chris Webber and having a stacked team sometime in my career, I would be honored. Here I am a nominee. I haven’t gotten out of the first round, but here I am now.”