All eight finalists were voted into the 2020 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class.
The star-studded class is headlined by Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. It also includes former Kentucky head coach Eddie Sutton.
My college coach Eddie Sutton has been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. I could cry.
Thanks, Coach.
It’s about damn time. @KentuckyMBB pic.twitter.com/JzGyLPfMgI
— Rex Chapman (@RexChapman) April 3, 2020
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The entire 2020 Hall of Fame Class:
– Kobe Bryant
– Tim Duncan
– Kevin Garnett
– Tamika Catchings
– Kim Mulkey
– Barbara Stevens
– Eddie Sutton
– Rudy Tomjanovich
Here are more details from ESPN:
All eight finalists — led by the late Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett — were selected for enshrinement on Saturday and will be inducted Aug. 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Bryant, Duncan and Garnett will be joined by 10-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever; coach Kim Mulkey of three-time women’s NCAA champion Baylor; five-time Division II coach of the year Barbara Stevens of Bentley University; four-time NCAA coach of the year Eddie Sutton; former Houston Rockets coach and two-time title winner Rudy Tomjanovich.
In addition to the finalists, longtime FIBA executive Patrick Baumann was also selected as an inductee, bringing the Class of 2020 to nine.
From the moment they were eligible, it was assured Duncan, Garnett and Bryant would gain entry into the Hall of Fame. However, what should have been a celebratory moment has instead had a pall cast over it.
There was the sudden and tragic passing of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. Longtime NBA commissioner David Stern died Jan. 1 after he had suffered a brain hemorrhage weeks earlier.
“It’s definitely the peak of his NBA career and every accomplishment that he had as an athlete was a stepping stone to be here,” Bryant’s widow Vanessa told ESPN in a video interview Saturday.
In addition, the announcement of this year’s class — which usually takes place during Final Four weekend — was made amid a stoppage in the sports world due to the coronavirus pandemic.
