NBA
The Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame Class Of 2018
On Friday, 13 inductees went into the Naismith Memorial National Basketball Hall of Fame. This year’s class is one of the more good ones in recent memory. Here’s the complete list of everyone who’s now in the Hall of Fame.
Six NBA Players
Ray Allen
Steve Nash
Charlie Scott
Grant Hill
Jason Kidd
Maurice Cheeks
Three women’s players
Tina Thompson
Ora Mae Washington
Katie Smith
Two executives
Rod Thorn
Rick Welts
One European Player
Dino Rada
One coach
Lefty Driesell
Let us take a look at each person who’s now in the Hall of Fame.
Steve Nash
All through a career which spanned 18 years, Nash made it into the All-NBA team seven times and was voted MVP twice consecutively in the 2004-05 season and the 2005-06 season. He led the NBA in assists five times. The point guard has the highest free-throw percentage ever at 90.4%
Jason Kidd
Drafted into the All-Star about 10 times, Kidd ranks second in the all-time assists list. The point guard’s playing career spanned 19 years in which he received the first-team honors five times and recorded the second-highest steals. He also made the All-Defensive first team four times, and starred on the Dallas Mavericks team that won the title in 2011. In the 1994-95 season, he was awarded rookie of the year alongside Grant Hill.
Grant Hill
Awarded Rookie of the Year in the 1994-95 season alongside Kidd, the forward made it onto the All-NBA team five times and in 1991 and 1992, he won consecutive national titles.
Ray Allen
In 18 long seasons, the shooting guard holds the record for the most number of three-pointers made. In 2008, he won the championship with Boston Celtics. Not to mention, 10 times he made the All-Star team, including a championship in 2013 with the Miami Heat. In a Heat uniform, he hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history.
Maurice Cheeks
The point guard made the All-Star team four times, won the championship in 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers, and ranks number 5 on the most-steals all-time list. Cheeks made the All-Defensive team five times and ranks number 13 on the all-time assists list. He also coached the Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons, and Philadelphia 76ers all within nine seasons.
Charlie Scott
After making the All-star twice at the ABA, where he was voted Rookie-of-the-year once, Scott spent 8 seasons at the NBA where he also made the All-star team three times.
Tina Thompson
First selected player in the inauguration of the WNBA, Thompson won four titles consecutively with the Houston Comets, made the All-star nine times, and made the All-WNBA team seven times in 17 seasons.
Katie Smith
Smith made the All-Star team seven times and made the second most three-pointers in WNBA history (906). She played the third most minutes, scored the fifth most points, made the sixth most free throws, and four times she made the All-WNBA team.
Lefty Driesell
Driesell coached for 41 seasons and happens to be the only coach with four different college wins in 100 games. First thing to remember in Division I of the NCAA, he is the ninth most winning coach and retired in 2003.
Rick Welts
Spending seventeen years at the NBA, Welts has served for about five years as the Golden State Warriors president. Another key point as an executive, he has handled various positions. The launching of the WNBA and NBA All-Star Weekend growth is some parts attributed to him.
Rod Thorn
Thorn spent 9 seasons playing in the NBA and was awarded executive-of-the-year in 2002. He was a coach and also spent 14 years as VP of basketball operations. Since 2013, Rod has been the basketball operations president.
Dino Radja
In his time, Radja spent four seasons at Boston Celtics and was arguably the best player from Europe, important to realize helping Croatia pick up a silver Olympic medal in 1992.
Ora Mae Washington
Washington won the Women’s Colored Basketball World’s Championships 11 times consecutively and has been significantly described as an all-around athlete.
Photo Credit
Danny McKiernan via Flickr
