Hall of Fame still considering date for induction of its starstudded Class of 2020.
Induction options under consideration include in October or next spring
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was gearing up for a great year: not just the all-but-certain election of NBA superstars like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, but also a chance to unveil a completely renovated museum.
Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the reopening has been pushed back two months to July 1 and the induction ceremony — which will posthumously honor Bryant along with longtime college coach Eddie Sutton — is being postponed, either to October or the spring.
The Hall’s Class of 2020 includes Bryant, Garnett, Duncan and WNBA star Tamika Catchings. Also to be honored by the Springfield, Massachusetts, shrine are Sutton, who died last month, and fellow coaches Rudy Tomjanovich, Kim Mulkey and Barbara Stevens, along with former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann.
Induction weekend will not be held on Aug. 28-30, as originally planned; the Hall is hoping to announce a new date by mid-june. Complicating the potential possibility of a spring 2021 induction: The Hall doesn’t know what the NBA and college basketball seasons will look like then.
At least one thing will be different for this year’s ceremony: The Hall will allow family members to speak on behalf of honorees who are being inducted posthumously. Previously, they were presented only on video.
The exception will be made not just for Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, but also for Sutton and Baumann, who died in 2018. note: A Florida judge has denied NBA rookie Zion Williamson’s attempt to block his former marketing agent’s effort to have the ex-duke star answer questions about whether he received improper benefits before playing for the Blue Devils. Prime Sports Marketing and company president Gina Ford filed a lawsuit last summer in Miami Dade County, accusing Williamson and the agency now representing him of breach of contract. That came after Williamson had filed his own lawsuit a week earlier in North Carolina to terminate a five-year contract with Prime Sports after moving to Creative Artists Agency LLC. Ford’s attorneys had submitted questions in filings last month that included whether the New Orleans Pelicans rookie or anyone on his behalf sought or accepted “money, benefits, favors or things of value” to sign with Duke. They sought answers within 30 days to establish facts under oath in the pretrial discovery process, while Williamson’s attorneys had argued the questions were “nothing more than a fishing expedition” and sought a stay to stop it. Larry A. Strauss, an attorney on the legal team representing Ford and Prime Sports, said that circuit judge David C. Miller denied the stay request, meaning the discovery process is set to continue. obituary: Wes Unseld was an undersized NBA center known more for his bruising picks, tenacious rebounding and perfectly placed outlet passes than any points he produced. He thrived in his role as a workmanlike leader. “I never played pretty,” Unseld said when elected to the Hall of Fame in 1988. “I wasn’t flashy. My contributions were in the things most people don’t notice. They weren’t in high scoring or dunking or behindthe-back passes.” Unseld, who began his pro career as a rookie MVP, led Washington to its only NBA championship and was chosen one of the 50 greatest players in league history, died Tuesday after “lengthy health battles, most recently with pneumonia,” his family said. He was 74. He spent his entire 13-season playing career with the Bulletswizards franchise, then was its coach and general manager. The team was based in Baltimore when he was drafted; he and his wife, Connie, opened Unselds’ School in that city in 1978.