The two most notable members of the 13-player class to be inducted on Sunday are Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups.
The NBA will pay tribute to its history when 13 basketball superstars are inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame nine days before the 2024–25 season begins. With the induction of the 13-member class of 2024, Springfield, Massachusetts, will become home to the 473rd Hall of Fame. The ceremony is scheduled for this Sunday. Here’s a look at the five former NBA greats who will be inducted into the hallowed halls of fame.
Being one of the most clutch players of his time and a five-time All-Star, Billups gained the moniker “Mr. Big Shot.” His career was characterised more by leadership qualities than by numbers; in 2004 he led the Detroit Pistons to the NBA championship and was awarded Finals MVP. But Billups still put up outstanding numbers: at the time of his retirement in 2014, he stood sixth in the NBA in terms of three-pointers made in the postseason, and his 89.4 free throw % is seventh-best in the league’s history. Cedric Maxwell is now the only eligible NBA Finals MVP who has not been enshrined into the Hall of Fame after Billups’ induction.
Carter has played in the NBA for 22 seasons, more than any other player. Over those more than 20 years, he went from being a high-flying All-Star to a crucial bench player. Carter played for eight different teams, but his tenure with the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets is most well-known because those two clubs produced all eight of his All-Star selections. Carter is the only player to have appeared in four different decades and has played in 1,541 games, which is the third-most in league history. Carter, who has always been one of the NBA’s most popular players, was awarded the Sportsmanship Award (2020) as well as the Teammate of the Year award (2016).
Cooper played his whole 12-year career in Los Angeles, where he won five championships, and was an integral member of the Showtime Lakers. He filled the roles of shooting guard and point guard, starting and reserve, but his defence was a constant. Along with Michael Jordan and Gary Payton, Cooper is one of just three guards in NBA history to be selected to at least eight All-Defensive teams and to earn the Defensive Player of the Year title. Cooper’s induction demonstrates that you can win the greatest honour in basketball without being a scorer. His career average of 8.9 points per game is the third lowest of any players in the modern period to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, behind only Ben Wallace (5.7) and Dennis Rodman (7.3).
Thirty-six years after his final game with the Phoenix Suns, Davis continues to be the team’s all-time top scorer having played for 11 of his 15 seasons there. His 24.2 PPG rookie average, which he won Rookie of the Year for 1977–78, is the only one higher than Michael Jordan’s 28.2 (1984–85) and David Robinson’s 24.3 (1989–90) in the last 40 seasons. In addition to being selected for the All-NBA thrice, Davis was an Olympic gold medallist in 1976 and made six All-Star Games.
Barnett, Dick
Barnett, in contrast to the other four players, is entering the hall through the men’s veteran committee because he was required to do so due to the fact that his career finished in 1974. However, Barnett is headed to Springfield 50 years after playing his last game because of a successful basketball career that saw him win at every stop. In addition to two NBA titles with the New York Knicks, he won three NAIA titles while attending college and also took home a championship in his one and only season in the American Basketball League. Barnett will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for the second time total, having been inducted as a member of the 1957–59 Tennessee State basketball team, which became the first team to win three consecutive national titles in any college division.
The other eight inductees range from former coaches such as Bo Ryan, who won more than 700 games in college to Charles Smith, who is Louisiana’s all-time winningest high school coach, to Harley Redin, who won six AAU national titles. Two WNBA legends got the call from the hall in eight-time WNBA All-Star, Seimone Augustus, and five-time WNBL (Australia) champion Michele Timms. Finally, the 2024 Basketball Hall of Fame class is completed by three contributors, who have spent the past few decades shaping what the game is basketball is today.
Herb Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, will go in. He’s the longest-tenured owner in NBA history, having bought the Pacers in 1983. Also elected in is Doug Collins, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1973 NBA Draft and has spent the last 51 years affiliated with the sport as a player, coach, broadcaster or adviser. Finally, there’s “The Logo” Jerry West, who will get inducted for the third time. West previously went in as both a player, and as a member of the 1960 Olympic team, and now he’ll go in for his executive career, in which he won eight NBA championships with the Lakers (six) and Golden State Warriors (two).
