The NBA has officially announced what was always inevitable. The late Kobe Bryant will be posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame alongside the like of Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan in May of 2021.
After his untimely passing back in January, the former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard was meant to be immortalised in August of this year. The ceremony, however, was obviously postponed due to COVID-19.
“When people talk about the greats of all time, it’s pretty difficult to say who was #1, and who’s #2, and who’s #3 – but there are four to five names that always get mentioned, we know that,” says Jerry Colangelo, Hall of Fame Chairman.
“There’s no doubt in my mind. He’s going to be honoured. Kobe Bryant is going into the Hall of Fame.”
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Alongside Mamba, Garnett, and Duncan, other inductees scheduled to be accepted in Springfield, Massachusetts will also include:
- Five-time NBA All-Star & two-time NBA championship coach Rudy Tomjanovich
- Baylor University Head Women’s Basketball Coach Kim Mulkey
- Former Clark University, Massachusetts, & Bentley University Head Women’s Basketball Coach Barbara Stevens
- Veteran high school basketball coach Eddie Sutton (posthumous, passed in May)
- Former President of the Global Association of International Sports Federation & Secretary General of the International Basketball Federation Patrick Baumann (posthumous, passed in October)
Check out the complete run of current Hall of Famers below.
