Delco’s Bo Ryan joins Carter, Billups in Hall induction class
GLENDALE, ARIZ. » Vince Carter wowed the basketball world with his high-flying dunks for more than two decades. Chauncey Billups was a clutch guard and Finals MVP for the Detroit Pistons.
Two icons from the 2000s era of basketball are headed to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tears welled in Carter’s eyes multiple times Saturday as he discussed what the honor means to him.
“I think that’s where the emotion comes from,” Carter said. “I have such a great appreciation for what this is and who is in the Hall of Fame. I get a chance to be a part of that. Say what you want, believe what you may, but there were some days I never thought I was on this level.”
Then he grinned.
“But they allowed me in, so I’m going to take it.”
The 13-member class announced Saturday also includes a local and Delaware County flavor, as Chester High graduate and former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan is part of the induction class, along with former 76ers player and coach
Doug Collings.
Also part of the class are former Lakers, Grizzlies and Warriors executive Jerry West, who has already been inducted as a player and as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team. Also in the class: players Seimone Augustus, Michael Cooper, Walter Davis, Dick Barnett and Michele Timms, coaches Charles Smith and Harley Redin, and owner Herb Simon.
The 2024 class will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, in August.
“It’s mindblowing for me,” Carter said. “I enjoyed playing the game of basketball every day. I’m just overjoyed.”
Carter, 47, was an eight-time All-Star and the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1999 with the Toronto Raptors. He had the longest career in NBA history, playing 22 seasons for the Raptors, Nets, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Hawks, Magic, Kings and Suns, and finished with 25,728 career points, good for 21st in league history.
He played in college at North Carolina under coach Dean Smith.