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For those who have decided to pick up the basketball and make it big, to be enshrined to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is a pipe dream. It's so sacred that no one ever dares to talk about it. For players and coaches alike, being immortalized in the Hall of Fame is the pinnacle of their basketball career.
As such, there is no doubt that every single name in the hall had invaluable contributions to the sport. This is not up for debate. But over the years, there are Hall of Fame classes that just grab your attention since it's filled with names synonymous with the word ‘greatness.' These names did not just come from the NBA but from every level of the sport.
Going through each and every name and their accomplishments is a tough chore because it's just too vast. So to save up on space, we'll focus on the headliners. But this does not mean that the other inductees are just shoo-ins. They are all basketball gods in our eyes.
5.) 1980 Hall of Fame: Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Les Harrison, Everett Shelton, Dallas Shirley
The 1980 class both have The Logo and triple-double machine Oscar Robertson. While they played in the 60s to the mid-70s, their names keep cropping up even today, some six decades later. Most of these names played ball in an uncertain social climate rife with racism. Despite this, these athletes did not hesitate to play ball with the best of their abilities. You can safely say that without them, the NBA wouldn't exist today.
4.) 2016 Hall of Fame: Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, Zelmo Beaty, Darrel Garretson, Tom Izzo, John Mcclendon, Cumberland Posey, Jerry Reinsdorf, Sheryl Swoopes
Shaq, Iverson, Yao. These three names made the mid-90s to the mid-2000s one of the most exciting decades in the world of sports. Everyone knows that O'Neal is tagged as the most dominant player in basketball. The big man thrashed teams with his brute strength — something that we might never see again.
Iverson, meanwhile, did not just show how lethal the crossover could be, but he also introduced a lifestyle with his cornrows, doo-rags, and unparalleled swag. And, of course, there's Yao. The 7 foot-6 giant from China. In his short stint in the league, he proved once and for all that to be a legend in the game, height is just a part of the equation. What separates the good ones from the greats is proper skill.
3.) 2010 Hall of Fame: Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Dennis Johnson, Jerry Buss, Gus Johnson, Ubiratan Pereira, Bob Hurley, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, 1992 USA Men's Olympic Team, 1960 USA Men's Olympic Team
The 2010 class did not just feature prominent players, coaches, and a team owner. It also had two Olympic teams, particularly the 1992 squad known as the “Dream Team.” It was the first American Olympic team to feature active professional players from the NBA. But it was not just this fact that defined its eminence. It was because its roster was stuffed with names like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley — just to name a few. Analysts say that its “arguably the most dominant squad ever assembled in any sport.”
But outside the competitive aspect of the sport, the Dream Team helped globalize the game. Due to the oozing talent that the Dream Team had, fans all over the world tuned in to every game. As a result, they weren't just arrested by the dominance of the Americans, but they also got a glimpse of what the other teams all over the world had to offer. If you're wondering why the NBA is filled with international talent today, it partly because of the 1992 Dream Team.
2.) 2009 Hall of Fame: Michael Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, C. Vivian Stringer
When you have the Greatest of All Time in your batch, it's automatically one the best Hall of Fame classes in history. Michael Jordan, without a shadow of a doubt, is the gold standard of basketball. Players themselves know this. Even those who did not necessarily grow up watching the Chicago Bulls wanted to be like Mike.
Apart from Jordan, the significance Robinson, Stockton, Sloan, and Stringer cannot be understated. Robinson, of course, is a San Antonio Spurs legend. Together with Tim Duncan, they were known as the Twin Towers and shared two titles together. Stockton and Sloan made their mark with the Utah Jazz. They were one of the best teams in the 90s. You could say that they were the ones responsible for keeping Jordan at his heels all the time. Stringer, meanwhile, is regarded as one of the best women's basketball coaches of all time.
1.) 2020 Hall of Fame: Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tamika Catchings, Rudy Tomjanovich, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, Eddie Sutton, Patrick Baumann
When the 2020 Hall of Fame class was unveiled, basketball analysts already tagged is as possibly the greatest class of them all. Between Kobe, Duncan, and KG is a total of 11 NBA title rings. But simply looking at their names will trigger potent images of game-winning shots, tough fadeaways over three defenders, the most fundamental yet effective post up maneuvers, blocked shots, the most intense trash-talking sprees, and many many more.
For most basketball fanatics, there's a tinge of bittersweetness in this year's Hall of Fame class. While they're happy that Kobe is part of that exclusive list of names, they all wish that he's still here — psyched at what he would say in his speech. Be it a funny story, some words of wisdom, or just the sound of his voice — every single soul in the basketball world would love to see Kobe at the Hall of Fame stage.
