With all eyes on NBA All-Star weekend, thanks in large part to the marketing vision of David Stern, the league takes this focused opportunity to make several announcements.
One of which is who will be elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.
First, we start with the direct-elects. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Friday the first five members of the Class of 2014, directly elected by distinguished committees preserving all areas from the game of basketball.These inductees include: Bob Leonard of the American Basketball Association (ABA) Committee, Nat Clifton of the Early African American Pioneers Committee, Sarunas Marciulionis of the International Committee, Guy Rodgers of the Veterans Committee and finally, David Stern from the Contributor Direct Election Committee.
The following from a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame press release on Friday:
These five new committees were established in 2011 to directly elect one nominee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This change was made to ensure that the Hall of Fame maintains a strong focus on presenting accurate historical information while utilizing voters who are intimately familiar with the special category they have been assigned to evaluate.
These electees will join the following players and coaches who are up for nomination. In a second press release from the Hall of Fame today, the finalists will include:
This year’s list includes six first-time finalists: three-time NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson, seven-time NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning and 1994 Naismith, NABC Coach of the Year Nolan Richardson, four-time National Coach of the Year Eddie Sutton, two-time NCAA National Championship coach Gary Williams and Immaculata University’s AIAW National Championship teams of the early 1970s. Previous finalists included again this year for consideration are five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, four-time NBA All-Star Spencer Haywood, six-time AAU National Champion Coach Harley Redin and six-time NBA All-Star Mitch Richmond.
“We are proud to present a distinguished group of finalists for the Class of 2014 who have made huge strides in the game of basketball,” said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Each finalist has made a difference to the game in their own way. It’s not going to be easy for the Honors Committee to select the final class members.”
The electees of the 2014 class will be released at the NCAA Final Four in April. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Also announced on Friday was the winner of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award. Your winner is legendary player and coach Alvin Attles who has been highly regarded as a player, coach and executive.
“Alvin Attles contributed over 50 years to the Warriors and to the game of basketball, making him the perfect recipient of this year’s John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “He impacted the lives of so many as a player, coach, ambassador and executive during his NBA tenure. We are honored to recognize Coach Attles with this prestigious award.”
Attles, spent more than 50 consecutive years with the Golden State Warriors as player, player-coach, coach, general manager, vice-president and consultant. He led the Warriors to West Coast version’s first and only NBA Championship (1975), the first time two African American head coaches faced off in the finals.
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Melo is FULL of it. He’d have to sign for nothing to bring Knicks team salary under 70 million. That’s the only way he could help with future.
Some how I don’t see Lala Vazquez going along with that. She’d probably prefer warm LA.
Knicks don’t have any flexibility to get better. They’ve already forfeited picks. Someone should teach Melo about the new CBA. If Melo wants to have chance for a championship, he should tell Dolan now, that he will go to Phoenix in free agency, if he isn’t traded to a contender before the 20th.