Among a class of players that also stands out for the appearance of Tim Duncan Y Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant will be honored posthumously in the NBA Hall of Fame, and Michael Jordan will appear on stage to introduce the Lakers legend.
Winner in five editions of the Association, and the closest to emulating twice three-peat of Jordan in the modern era, Bryant played 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers in which he won the Most Valuable Player award in one edition.
A graduate of Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, Bryant entered the league at age 18 and finished with 18 All-Star Game selections and a pair of scorer titles.
Including the 81-point duel against the Toronto Raptors – the second-highest scoring in NBA history – and the 60 points in his farewell to the court, his 33,643 points they are the fourth highest figure in history, only behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,938) and LeBron James (35,283).
The NBA was paralyzed prior to the arrival of the pandemic on this side of the Atlantic with the death of Kobe Bryant, who, in addition to putting the NFL Pro Bowl on hold, gathered his followers, white roses in hand for the Black Mamba , outside the Staple Center in a sudden tribute that littered Figueroa Street in gold and purple. Inside the arena, days later, family members and an extensive community of basketball players remembered one of the most iconic stars of that sport. Among them, Jordan also appeared, where for more than 10 minutes he dedicated a few words to his younger brother, as he called him: “When Kobe died, a part of me died”, he stated.
Patrick Baumann, former secretary general of FIBA; Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever (WNBA) player for 15 years; Barbara Stevens, coach for 43 years of women’s college basketball; Eddie Sutton, NCAA coach for 42 years; and rudy Tomjanovich, Rockets forward with five All-Star selections in 11 seasons (1970-1981), are other characters who will enter Naismith this year.
In Duncan’s case it will be David Robinson who will give an introduction, with whom he shared the championship of the 1998-99 season, the first for the San Antonio Spurs franchise.
Isiah Thomas, a member of the Detroit Pistons and two-time NBA champion (1988, 1989), is responsible for announcing KG.
Jordan, host of Kim Mulkey
The first person to win the NCAA championship as a player, assistant and coach in history has been Kim Mulkey, in turn winner of the Gold medal in Los Angeles 1984.
Mulkey, who has an extensive career in collegiate basketaball and current coach of the women’s team of Baylor, will also be enthroned in the Hall of Fame and presented by Jordan at the May 15 ceremony.