Springfield (Massachusetts, USA), May 16 (EFE) .- Former players Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Chris Webber, Ben Wallace and Croatian Toni Kukoc, are among the new members of the Basketball Hall of Fame who this Sunday he officially announced the list of those chosen within the Class of 2021.
A day after ex-center Kevin Garnett, his teammate with the Boston Celtics, Pierce, who won a league title, will also have a place in the sacred precincts of the Naismith Memorial.
Along with Pierce, Bosh, Webber, Wallace and Kukoc, 12 other new inductees were also inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Veteran Rick Adelman heads the list of four coaches who have been included in the list, where is Bill Russell, who won two NBA titles when he was in charge of the Celtics; Cotton Fitzsimmons, longtime coach and Jay Wright, two-time NCAA National College Basketball Champion.
WNBA women’s basketball legends Yolanda Griffith and Lauren Jackson, along with Pearl Moore, a college women’s basketball legend elected by the veteran women’s committee, are also among the new inductees to the Hall of Fame. Like Val Ackerman, former president of the WNBA.
The veterans committee selected Bob Dandridge; Clarence Jenkins, for being one of the first African American pioneers and Howard Garfinkel, who created the five-star summer camp.
Last night the induction ceremony for the new Class of 2020 Hall of Famers was held, which had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and was led by the late Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Garnett.
Although none of the new picks from the 2021 Class have the track record of Bryant, Duncan and Garnett, Pierce won a league title with the Celtics in 2008.
While Bosh, who was forced to retire early for health reasons, had two with the Miami Heat and was selected 11 times to the All-Star Game.
Webber, who had been a finalist in each of the last five years, did not win a title, but was selected five Times to the All-Star Game and ultimately achieved his dream of being a new Hall of Famer.
Wallace won the Defensive Player of the Year award five times with the Detroit Pistons.
Kukoc, elected by the international committee, became the first European player to fully triumph in the NBA, after winning three titles with the Chicago Bulls (1996-1998) alongside the legendary Michael Jordan and the Sixth Player award in the 1996 season.
Pierce, who scored 26,000 points in his 19 seasons with the Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and LA Clippers, was chosen in his first year of voting.
The same thing happened to Bosh, who joined the Heat as a free agent in 2010, teaming with forward LeBron James and former guard Dwyane Wade to win championships in 2012 and 2013 and make four consecutive NBA Finals. He also won a gold medal with Team USA in 2008.
The class will be consecrated on September 11 on the same stage at the Mohegan Sun Arena, in Uncasville (Connecticut), where the presentation of the Class of 2020 was held last night.
(c) EFE Agency