Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker NAMED HALL OF FAME FINALISTS

With the NBA All-star Weekend underway, the finalists of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame were announced.

Three international icons have been included in the final list with Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, and Tony Parker getting selected.

Additionally, Parker's long-time coach Gregg Popovich and threetime NBA champion Dwyane Wade are among the finalists as well.

Popovich's former assistant and current Las Vegas Aces head coach in the WNBA, Becky Hammon has been selected by the Women's Committee to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"I love the class," Hall of Fame's chairman Jerry Colangelo said. "I think this is a loaded class . ... I think this is unique in that we have a lot of first-time people and it's unusual when somebody makes it on the first ballot. But this is going to be that unique of class. Because there could be four or five first-timers. So, I'm very excited about it."

"I didn't care about scoring points, I just cared about making the right play," Gasol said following the news.

North American Committee Finalists:

Gene Bess – All-time winningest college coach (1,300)

Pau Gasol – 6-time All-star, 2time NBA champion, 2002 Rookie of the Year

David Hixon – 826 wins, 2-time D3 national champion, 2-time D3 Coach of the Year

Gene Keady – 7-time Big Ten Coach of the Year

Dirk Nowitzki – 14-time Allstar, 2006-07 MVP, 2011 NBA Champion

Tony Parker – 6-time All-star, 4-time NBA champion, 2007 Finals MVP

Gregg Popovich – Winningest coach in NBA history, 5-time NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist with the US national team in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Dwyane Wade – 13-time Allstar, 3-time NBA champion, 2006 Finals MVP