Shaq, Iverson, Ming headline Hall class
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will welcome two of the sport’s game-changing stars tonight, one big and one small.
Seven-foot-one center Shaquille O’Neal and 6-foot guard Allen Iverson headline the Class of 2016 that will be enshrined tonight at Springfield, Massachusetts. Joining them in the 10-member class will be NBA and international star Yao Ming, longtime Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes, NAIA coaching legend John McClendon (posthumous), former referee Darrell Garretson (posthumous), executive Jerry Reinsdorf, ABA star Zelmo Beaty (posthumous) and early African-American pioneer Cumberland Posey (posthumous).
“He had a lot of heart,” O’Neal said of Iverson. “We’re similar in the aspect that we did it our way . ... I was only going to do it my way. He did it his way. Cultural icon. A lot of things were implemented because of his style with the dress code and the way he wears chains and big tattoos and all that stuff. He made it cool for that to happen.”
HOCKEY
The Nashville Predators named forward Mike Fisher as the seventh captain in franchise history, replacing Shea Weber, who was traded to Montreal in July for P.K. Subban. Fisher played his 1,000th NHL game March 3, the 300th player in league history to reach that mark. Also Thursday, Predators center Paul Gaustad, 34, announced his retirement on Instagram. Gaustad had 89 goals and 142 assists in 727 career regular-season games.
SOCCER
Landon Donovan will come out of retirement to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy, he announced on social media. Donovan will play at least until the end of the current Major League Soccer season. Donovan, 34, is the MLS career leader in goals and assists.
BASKETBALL
The Indiana Pacers signed veteran free agent forward/center Kevin Seraphin and rookie guard Nick Zeisloft. The 6-10 Seraphin has career averages of 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. The 6-4 Zeisloft played last season at Indiana, where he averaged 6.5 points and 1.6 rebounds.