SLAM DUNK CALL

Kobe Bryant headlines the 2020 class of nine enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Kobe Bryant’s resume has yet another entry to validate his greatness: He’s now, officially, a Hall of Famer.

Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash Jan. 26, headlined a nine-person group announced Saturday as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bryant died about three weeks before the Hall of Fame said — as if there was going to be any doubt — that he was a finalist. Fellow NBA greats Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett were also widely perceived to be locks to be part of this class; they were both 15-time All-Stars, and Bryant was an 18-time selection.

Bryant’s death has been part of a jarring start of the year for basketball: Commissioner Emeritus David Stern died Jan. 1, Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine who died in the crash in late January, and the NBA shut down March 11 as the coronavirus pandemic began to grip the United States.

“Obviously, we wish that he was here with us to celebrate,” Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s wife, said on the ESPN broadcast of the class announcement. “But it’s definitely the peak of his NBA career and every accomplishment that he had as an athlete was a steppingstone to be here. So we’re incredibly proud of him.”

Bryant was also a five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, just as Duncan was with the San Antonio Spurs.

“This is an incredibly special class, for many reasons,” Hall of Fame chairman and enshrinee Jerry Colangelo said.

■ Kevin Garnett: Only player in NBA history with at least 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 5,000 assists, 1,500 blocks and 1,500 steals, and also was part of Boston’s 2008 NBA title.

■ Rudy Tomjanovich: Fivetime NBA All-Star forward with the San Diego/Houston Rockets, he coached both the Rockets (1992-2003) and Lakers (2004’05) and won two NBA titles with Houston (1994, ’95).

■ Tamika Catchings: First a standout at Tennessee where she directed the Lady Volunteers to the 1998 national title, she spent 15 years with WNBA’s Indiana Fever and won a championship (2012), MVP Award (2011), Finals MVP Award (2012) and along the way four Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016).

■ Kim Mulkey: Won three NCAA women’s titles as a coach (2005, ’12, ’19), won two others as a player and had Baylor in position to vie for another championship this season before the global coronavirus pandemic.

■ Barbara Stevens: Has coached for 43 years at Clark University, Massachusetts and Bentley and is a five-time Division II coach of the year with a career record of 1,039-282.

■ Eddie Sutton: Won 806 games over nearly four decades at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and San Francisco, with three Final Four appearances (1978, 1995, 2004).

■ Patrick Baumann: FIBA secretary general, selected as a direct-elect by the international committee.

Chris Carlson The Associated Press Former Lakers star Kobe Bryant, seen in 2017, was voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, along with fellow NBA standouts Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.