After Delay, Kevin Garnett To Be Enshrined In Basketball Hall Of Fame In May 2021
SPRINGFIELD (CBS/AP) — Former Celtic Kevin Garnett, along with Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, will finally enter the Basketball Hall of Fame in May 2021.
The NBA said Saturday that the delayed Hall of Fame weekend — it was to have taken place in Springfield, Massachusetts in August, before being pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic — will be held from May 13-15.
The news of the delay came in late May, when Jerry Colangelo — chairman of the board of governors for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - told ESPN.com that doing the ceremony was not possible in 2020.
"It's going to have to be the first quarter of next year. We'll meet in a couple of weeks and look at the options of how and when and where," Colangelo said in May.
Garnett played for Boston from 2007-2013. Coming to the Celtics in a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Garnett helped guide the team to an NBA championship in 2008. That same season, he was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Overall, Garnett played 21 seasons in the NBA, spending time with Minnesota, Boston and the Brooklyn Nets. He won an NBA MVP award in 2004 with the Timberwolves and was named to 15 All-Star Games in his career.
Garnett, Bryant and Duncan — with a combined 48 All-Star Game selections and 11 NBA championships between them — were the headliners of the class that was announced back in April. They all got into the Hall in their first year as finalists, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings.
Others had to wait a bit longer for the Hall's call: Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich got in this year, as did longtime Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton.
Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, along with daughter Gianna and seven others. Sutton died May 23.
Also going in as part of this class is former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann, who was chosen by the international committee. Baumann died in October 2018.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
