APRIL 1: Popovich, Wade, Nowitzki, Gasol, Parker, and Hammon have officially been announced as Hall of Famers. In addition to those previously reported names, the following inductees will join them:
- Gene Bess: Longtime head coach at Three Rivers Community College who won two NJCAA national championships and won a record 1,300 games.
- Gary Blair: Longtime women’s basketball head coach at Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Stephen F. Austin who won a national championship in 2011 and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
- David Hixon: Longtime Amherst College head coach who won a pair of Division III national championships and was twice named the D-III Coach of the Year
- Gene Keady: Longtime Purdue head coach who appeared in 17 NCAA tournaments and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times.
The Hall of Fame is also recognizing Jim Valvano, the late NCAA broadcaster who created The V Foundation for Cancer Research, and the 1976 Olympic U.S. women’s basketball team (Twitter links).
This year’s class will formally be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on the weekend of August 11-12 in Springfield, Mass.
MARCH 28: Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Becky Hammon have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
All six were finalists of the 2023 class, and a formal announcement of all the inductees will take place on Saturday morning at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.
Popovich, the NBA’s all-time leader in wins for a head coach, has won five championships, all with San Antonio. The 74-year-old is in his 27th season as the lead coach of the Spurs, compiling a 1363-757 record to this point, good for a 64.3 winning percentage. In 284 postseason games, his teams have gone 170-114 — a 59.9 winning percentage.
A three-time Coach of the Year, Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in the league. He led Team USA to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Popovich was actually eligible to be inducted years ago but didn’t want to be considered until his longtime point guard Parker was eligible after Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were previously inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Nowitzki spent his entire 21-year career with the Mavericks, winning the team’s lone championship in 2011 en route to Finals MVP. He earned numerous accolades during his career, including being named the league’s 2006/07 MVP. The German big man was also 14-time All-Star and 12-time All-NBA member.
Wade, a shooting guard, was a 13-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA member, and three-time NBA champion with the Heat. He was named Finals MVP in 2006 and spent the bulk of his career with Miami. Wade is currently a part owner of the Jazz.
Parker, a point guard, spent his first 17 seasons with the Spurs before surprisingly signing one-year contract to finish his career with Charlotte. He was a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA member, four-time NBA champion and 2007 Finals MVP.
Gasol, a forward/center, was a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA member, two-time NBA champion with the Lakers and was the ’01/02 Rookie of the Year. He also had a storied international career with the Spanish national team, winning a couple of Olympic silver medals and several medals during World Cup and EuroBasket compeitions.
Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star and two-time first-team All-WNBA member. The former guard won an Olympic gold medal in 1998 with the U.S. national team.
Hammon was a Spurs assistant for parts of eight seasons, becoming the first female acting head coach in NBA history when Popovich was ejected from a game in December 2020. She departed San Antonio when she was named head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, becoming the first rookie head coach to win a championship last season.
The San Antonio class pretty much. Silver linings during a tough year.
You’re right, didn’t Pau play there for a minute too?
Yep, parts of three seasons at the end of his career.
Spoilers! Damn
Popovich overrated
Winningest coach of all time with five championships. How’s he overrated?
Because he does politics I don’t like, or something /s
Winningest coach? What does that even mean? George Karl has more wins than Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach, does that make him a better coach than them? Wtf you talking about?
Tony Parker and Pau Gasol are HoFers? Gasol has an argument but Parker? Was he ever the top PG or even considered one?
Take a look at the Hall…
Winning is more important…
Lol what? 1 of the greatest paint scoring guards of all time…multiple championships. He was the best player on multiple teams that either won or got to the finals. They literally changed their entire organization around him, instead of Duncan, and made their team more modern around him. Their passing and versatility is a significant reason they were so good, and that is something that GS adopted as well, which was a big reason they were as great as they were
Especially in basketball where requirements are much smaller, and you can get in for college or international stuff…its not even a question if he is a HoFer
Tim Duncan was the Best player in each year in San Antonio, since being drafted, until passing his prime, sometime around the 2010s.
Tony Parker might have been a really importante piece, and even really important with his scoring. But no wsy the Best overall player in the team.
2007-2010 Tony Parker was world class, and definitely the piece the spurs were designing their whole scheme around at that time. He was unstoppable during the 2007 playoff run.
Honestly unclear to me to this day why we treat CP3 like he is so much better Tony.
Chris Paul is one of the greatest 2 way guards of all time…
Man…its crazy seeing all these guys I Ioved watching, and held in such high regard, going into the Hall of Fame. All of those guys mean something to me, but seeing Dwyane Wade’s name there with them feels like a moment that was waiting to happen for 20 years. Dwyane Wade being drafted by the Miami Heat is a significant moment in my life, and all of the memories he has given me are always in my heart. Congrats to him and everyone else
Nowitzki got handicapped throughout his career by wanna-be GM Mark Cuban’s moronic roster building and still willed that franchise to a championship. That achievement alone is HOF-worthy.
Congratulations to all the inductees! I had the pleasure of working for Pop for over a decade and his coaching skills go way beyond the court. Just look at the coaches and GMs around the league a large percentage of them worked under Pop! First rate coach and an even better human being! Congratulations Pop!
Parker and Hammon don’t belong. Just MHO
I disagree about Parker. In my opinion he was the best PG in the league during his run. But his focus was winning, not numbers like say a Chris Paul was. Which is why he won and Paul didn’t. He also did win a Finals MVP to prove it.
His European resume is extremely impressive. Now, you have to take it with a grain of salt and by itself I don’t think it should matter, but when you add in his success in the NBA and again winning a Finals MVP, I think it means a lot
Popovich and Belichek are the most overrated coaches in Sports history
Why though
I think he’s overrated because he did coach some of the best players in the league throughout most of his career (don’t forget David Robinson). We’ve seen what happens when he has lesser talent over the past few seasons. Plus, I “credit” him with starting the load management era (probably a smart thing to do, but I’m not a fan). Having said that, I still think he’s a good coach & a HOF’er. I’m a Colts fan…so I’ll stay out of the Belichek part
What coach has won championships with bad players? Every good team has good players. Plus, look at the Mavs. Doncic is one of the best players in the league. You still need to know how to use them.
He’s just had more than his fair share of “top of the league” players. You are right – – he does need to know how to use them, motivate them, etc. but I think there are a lot of coaches that could have won titles with those teams. I do think he’s one of the best coaches around…just overrated. Doncic hasn’t exactly had all that great of talent around him. I don’t think the Mavs would be that much different with Popovich coaching them.
Okay, then is Kerr overrated and/or a hall of fame coach?
The basketball hof is a joke anyway. How do you put in people that are still in the game right now (Popovich). I dont understand how you have a HOF with Michael Jordan, Magic, Kobe, etc. and then you allow someone like Becky Hammon in. I wont be surprised if Kemba Walker or Draymond Green get in, what a joke. You walk into the hof and see MJ next to Becky Hammon and you think its an April Fools joke. Hof should take out any non NBA player, not count any overseas stuff, not count college, and get rid of around half the guys that are in right now
That got to put popovich in now before people realize how trash he is. He has been nothing since Duncan and Kawhi have been gone. And it’s only getting worse and worse. He’s not even competitive and all he does is cry about it. If they keep waiting he won’t get in.
All deserving Congratulations ……