Kobe, Duncan, Garnett among 9 enshrined in Hall of Fame
Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett take their places among the legends.
Tim Reynolds | Associated Press
May 16, 2021 12:22 AM
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Vanessa Bryant took Michael Jordan’s hand and walked down from the stage, a familiar chant breaking out throughout the arena as she made her way back to her seat.
“Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!” the crowd shouted.
With that, he was officially, finally a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Kobe Bryant is in the Hall now, along with contemporaries Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, headliners of a group of nine who got their delayed and long-awaited enshrinement on Saturday night, more than a year after being announced as the Hall’s Class of 2020.
May 16, 2021
UNCASVILLE, Conn. Vanessa Bryant took Michael Jordan’s hand and walked down from the stage, a familiar chant breaking out throughout the arena as she made her way back to her seat.
“Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!” the crowd shouted.
With that, he was officially, finally a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Kobe Bryant is in the Hall now, along with contemporaries Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, headliners of a group of nine who got their delayed and long-awaited enshrinement on Saturday night, more than a year after being announced as the Hall’s Class of 2020.
“Right now, I’m sure he’s laughing in heaven, because I’m about to praise him in public,” Vanessa Bryant said.
It’s time: Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett to enter Basketball Hall of Fame
FILE - In this June 7, 2009, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) points to a player behind him after making a basket in the closing seconds against the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of the NBA basketball finals, in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Each was an NBA champion, an MVP, an Olympic gold medalist, annual locks for All-Star and All-Defensive teams. And now, the ultimate honor comes their way: On Saturday night, May 15, 2021, in Uncasville,. Mark J. Terrill
FILE - San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan speaks to the media during a news conference for NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas, in this Friday, Feb. 16, 2007, file photo. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Each was an NBA champion, an MVP, an Olympic gold medalist, annual locks for All-Star and All-Defensive teams. And now, the ultimate honor comes their way: On Saturday night, May 15, 2021, in Uncasvi
It’s a group of nine being honored on Saturday night: Bryant, Duncan and Garnett are the NBA players going in; 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens, two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, three-time NCAA champion coach Kim Mulkey and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton are getting enshrined, along with four-time women’s Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings and longtime FIBA executive Patrick Baumann.
Some of them spoke Friday of their modest beginnings and how reflecting on those days made the emotions for this weekend churn even stronger. Stevens said she thought she hit the jackpot when she landed her first coaching job as an assistant at Clark University for $400 in 1976, Tomjanovich said he didn’t feel ready when he was offered the Houston Rockets job; Mulkey talked about her days as a pigtailed girl playing Pony League baseball with the boys in the little Louisiana town where she grew up.
It’s time: Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett to enter Basketball Hall of Fame
FILE - In this June 7, 2009, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) points to a player behind him after making a basket in the closing seconds against the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of the NBA basketball finals, in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Each was an NBA champion, an MVP, an Olympic gold medalist, annual locks for All-Star and All-Defensive teams. And now, the ultimate honor comes their way: On Saturday night, May 15, 2021, in Uncasville,. Mark J. Terrill
FILE - San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan speaks to the media during a news conference for NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas, in this Friday, Feb. 16, 2007, file photo. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Each was an NBA champion, an MVP, an Olympic gold medalist, annual locks for All-Star and All-Defensive teams. And now, the ultimate honor comes their way: On Saturday night, May 15, 2021, in Uncasvi