The National Basketball Association has announced the most recent honorees for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020. Recently deceased basketball and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was one of nine former players, coaches, and contributors elected to this year’s Hall of Fame. The Class of 2020 will be enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball, on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020.
The committee for the class of 2020 voted in all eight that came up on this year’s ballots. The honorees include 18-time NBA All-Star and five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, 15-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA Finals MVP Tim Duncan, 15-time NBA All-Star and nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection Kevin Garnett, four-time National Coach of the Year Eddie Sutton, two-time NBA Champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, 10-time WNBA All-Star, and four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings, three-time NCAA National Championship Coach of Baylor Kim Mulkey, five-time Division II National Coach of the Year Barbara Stevens and longtime FIBA executive Patrick Baumann.
“The Class of 2020 is undoubtedly one of the most historic of all time and the talent and social influence of these nine honorees is beyond measure,” said John L. Doleva, president and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame said in a written statement. “In 2020, the basketball community has suffered the unimaginable loss of iconic figures Commissioner David Stern and Kobe Bryant, as well as the game itself due to COVID-19. We have also banded together like never before in appreciation of the game and those who have made it the uniting force it is today. Today we thank the Class of 2020 for all they have done for the game of basketball and we look forward to celebrating them at Enshrinement in August.”
For people to be elected, the finalists are required to receive 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2020 Enshrinement festivities will start at the Mohegan Sun on Friday, Aug. 28 with the Enshrinement Tip-Off Celebration and Awards Gala. The next day, Saturday, Aug. 29, the Class of 2020 and over 50 returning Hall of Famers will then head over to Springfield, Mass. for the annual celebratory events taking place at the newly renovated Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Springfield Symphony Hall on the 29th.