The Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame would be receiving nine new members this year, including Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett.
The enshrinement takes place in August at the Hall of Fame museum in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Kobe spent the 20 years of his career, from 1996, with the Los Angeles Lakers where he won 5 NBA championships and made it to the NBA All-star team 18 times, was part of the All-NBA team 15 times.
In 2008, he won the Most Valuable Player title. Till date, he is the leading Lakers scorer with 33,643 points. The Mamba, as he is popularly called, is the second player with the most points in a game after scoring 81 points in a 2006 game. Kobe was also the Naismith Prep Player of the Year in 1996. He died on the 26th of January in a Helicopter crash.
Tim Duncan was a player for the San Antonio Spurs for the entire 19 years of his career where he made 26, 496 points throughout those years.
He won 5 NBA championships, 2 MVP titles, made the All-star team 15 times, and was the MVP in the 2000 All-star game. He is currently as assistant coach for his former team.
Kevin Garnet started his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995 and ended it with them in 2016. But he left in 2007 when he joined the Boston Celtics, where he stayed till 2013 before joining the Brooklyn Nets, before heading back to the team where he started.
During those 21 years of his career, he won the NBA MVP title in 2004 and the NBA Championship once with the Celtics in 2008. He made the All-star team 15 times and was Mr. Basketball USA in 1995.
The three players were extraordinary on the court and made the game of basketball fun and interesting in their way. Each made great strides and achieved big. According to Duncan in a conversation with ESPN, “I never dreamt I would be at this point.
I played the game, enjoyed the game, loved what I did,” describing the class as “amazing. Garnett calls it a culmination of the effort he put in throughout his career years, adding, “For me, to be called a Hall of Famer, is everything.” Vanessa Bryant, wife of Kobe, describes the induction as the peak of Kobe’s career, while for Jeanie Buss, president of L.A Lakers, no amount of words can describe what Kobe meant to the team.
The other inductees include WNBA All-star Tamika Catchings, coach Kim Mulkey, coach Barbara Stevens, coach Eddie Sutton, coach Rudy Tomjanovich and FIBA executive Patrick Bauman, who was selected for his contribution to the game internationally.
Written by: Leon Osamor
