Trio in rare Hall air
2020 class the electors enacted a one-year suspension of direct elections from the Veteran’s, Women’s Veteran’s, Early African-American Pioneers and Contributors categories.
The electors didn’t want any deserving nominee from those groups overlooked.
“When we selected this group for induction, we immediately knew that this would be, maybe, one of the great classes of all-time,” said Jerry Colangelo, the chairman of the Hall of Fame’s Board of Governors. “I mean, the people going in, the three headliners in Kobe and Garnett and Tim Duncan ... that says it all.”
There are nine members of the class that will be enshrined Saturday: Alongside Bryant, Duncan and Garnett are new LSU women’s coach and former Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, former Bentley coach Barbara Stevens, four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings, two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton and former FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann. Bryant, Sutton and Baumann will all be enshrined posthumously.
Duncan averaged 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.2 blocks per game in 19 NBA seasons with the Spurs. He was the NCAA player of the year in 1997 at Wake Forest, the NBA’s rookie of the year the following year, a champion a year after that — and the accolades just kept coming.
“On a professional level, the most concise way to put it is, ‘No Duncan, no championships,’ ” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who coached Duncan for his entire career. “And on a personal level, I love the guy.”
Duncan never sought the spotlight as a player. Last season, when he returned to the Spurs as an assistant coach for a year, he shunned almost anything that would have brought attention his way. He prefers to keep things simple, and what made him click with the Spurs — and with Popovich — is a shared belief that the simple way isn’t an impediment to greatness.
Garnett was different. Demonstrative, loud, trash-talking, he pushed opponents’ buttons with ease. Like Bryant, he went straight to the NBA out of high school and didn’t need much time before making an impact. He played 21 seasons for Timberwolves, Celtics and Nets, averaging 17.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
“I never accepted losing,” Garnett said. Bryant averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in his 20 NBA seasons, all with the Lakers. He scored 81 points, the second-most for a game in NBA history, in 2016. He scored 60 points in his final NBA game — two years before winning an Academy Award, as his post-NBA passion for storytelling was becoming an instant success.
He was, and is, iconic. The 76ers’ Joel Embiid, an MVP candidate this season, said remembers the first NBA game he ever watched — and who starred in that game.
It was Bryant, and Embiid immediately had a hero.
“That was also when I fell in love with basketball and that’s why he became my favorite player,” Embiid said. “I mean, I would say that I am probably here because of him . ... We miss him a lot. I miss him a lot.”