The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged and postponed some of our greatest sports moments and events in 2020. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony was supposed to be held in August but was postponed due to the pandemic.
READ MORE: 2020 Naismith Hall of Fame Induction Pushed Back To 2021
The NBA said Saturday that the delayed Hall of Fame weekend will now be held May 13-15 of 2021.
The Class of 2020 is among the most accomplished and impactful in NBA history. Some say it’s the most elite induction class ever.
With a combined 48 All-star Game selections and 11 NBA Championships between them Kobe “Bean” Bryant (RIP), Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett can easily be found on anyone’s Top 25 all-time list .
READ MORE: Tim Duncan Could Have Been The G.O.A.T.
Basketball fans are anxiously awaiting the celebration of these hoops icons — especially Kobe Bryant, the creme de la creme of the distinguished class, who passed away, along with his daughter Gigi and several other passengers when the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter they were in crashed in Calabasas, California, around 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
READ MORE: Kobe Would Have Never Canceled A Game, But The NBA Should Have On Sunday
Back in May, Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the board of governors for the Hall, said the original dates of enshrinement weekend, Aug. 28-30, and the proposed alternate dates, Oct. 10-12, were “just not feasible” in light of the pandemic that at the time had killed more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and had rendered large gatherings taboo.
In A Class By Itself
The 2020 class also includes legendary Rockets coach and two-time NBA champion Rudy Tomjanovich, 10-time WNBA All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings, Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, Bentley College women’s basketball coach Barbara Stevens, former FIBA and IOC executive Patrick Baumann and former college coach Eddie Sutton (RIP).
Tamika Catchings Launches Pipeline To NBA General Manager – The Shadow League : The Shadow League #wnba #tamikacatchings https://t.co/6awJk0GDHA
— LA MAQUINA DE SOMBRAS (@FANalyst1) March 5, 2019
This unrivaled class was also supposed to serve as a springboard to trumpet the Springfield, Massachusetts HOF’s $23 million renovation project. The Hall closed in early February to complete the renovations and planned to reopen on March 25, but because of the pandemic, its doors have remained shuttered. Hopefully, the delayed induction and reopening of the country will help the legendary hoop heaven make up for monies lost.
The compilation of transcending talent and the underlying storylines within the narratives of these various basketball sagas will still make this induction the hottest ticket in town come May, assuming that we can have large gatherings by then.
