A helluva haul for the Hall
It was inevitable and now it’s official: Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan are Hall of Famers. The trio of legends were announced Saturday as part of a 2020 class that is heralded as “one of the most historic of all time,” according to John L. Doleva, the CEO of the Hall of Fame.
The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for late August in Springfield, Mass., pending, of course, the status of the current coronavirus pandemic.
“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,” Doleva said. “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.”
In addition to the starpower, Bryant’s death this year in a helicopter crash adds emotion and sentimentality to the 2020 class. The other inductees are coach Eddie Sutton, coach Rudy Tomjanovich, WNBA’s
Tamika Catchings, NCAA women’s coaches Kim Mulkey and Barbara Stevens, and FIBA executive Patrick Baumann.
But the headliners will grab the attention and deservedly so. Bryant, the heir apparent to Michael Jordan, won five titles with the Lakers, two Finals
MVPs, a league MVP and four All-Star MVPs.
Duncan, perhaps the greatest power forward of all-time, also has five championships with three Finals MVPs, two league MVPs and a Rookie of the Year award.
Garnett won a title, a regular season MVP and an All-Star MVP. Together, the three combined for 48 All-Star appearances.
If they don’t the greatest Hall of Fame class trio in history, they certainly fall in the top-3. A review only uncovered two comparable:
2009:
• Michael Jordan • David Robinson • John Stockton
1980:
• Oscar Robertson • Jerry Lucas • Jerry West