Last week the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class was announced, It could quite possibly be the greatest class in history. Combined, these NBA legends took home 11 championships, brought in 5 finals MVPS, let loose with 6 All Star MVPS, they were elected to an unheard of, 48 combined All Star appearances. Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan can finally place themselves in immortality with nods as Hall of Famers.
These legends are also accompanied by 10-time WNBA All Star Tamika Catchings, five time division 2 coach of the year at Bentley Barbara Stevens, 4 time division 1 coach of the year Eddie Sutton, former Rocket and 2 time NBA champion Rudy Tomjanovich, and former FIBA secretary general, Patrick Bauman.
The announcements were released just 2 months after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. In an interview with Bryant’s wife Vanessa, she stated, “It’s definitely the peak of his NBA career , and every accomplishment as he had as an athlete was a stepping stone to be here…Obviously we wish he was here with us to celebrate. We’re incredibly proud of him. And there is some solace knowing that he was going to be a part of the 2020 Hall of Fame class.”
According to the statistics of Bryant, Duncan, and Garnett they all accounted for 144 major NBA awards. This is over 20 more than the now second placed 2009 class headlined by Michael Jordan. The 2010 class sits in third. “To call it a dream come true isn’t doing any justice, because I never dreamt I would be at this point. I played the game, enjoyed the game, loved what I did…” Kevin Garnett closed his interview by simply stating the facts. “All those hours…this is what you do it for, right here. For me, being a Hall of Famer is everything.”
