By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
ANKARA (AA) - The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame officially announced on Saturday that Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, Dwyane Wade, Becky Hammon and Gregg Popovich are among the headliners of the 2023 class.
"This is basketball heaven,” Wade said about the announcement.
The four headliners, Nowitzki, Parker, Gasol and Wade, have 95,092 points, 39 All-Star appearances and 10 NBA championships combined.
Hammon, who is the coach of the reigning WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces, is also a six-time WNBA All-Star.
Popovich, who has the most wins of any coach in NBA history, bagged five NBA titles and an Olympic gold in 2021 Tokyo Games.
“In all honesty, I always felt the Hall of Fame is like for Red Holzman, Red Auerbach and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. … I’ve never felt like I really belonged, to be honest with you,” Popovich said, “I’m not trying to be ‘Mr. Humble’ or anything. I’m a Division III guy. I’m not a Hall of Fame guy.”
Former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano, the 1976 US Olympic women’s basketball team, former Purdue coach Gene Keady, former Texas A&M women’s coach Gary Blair, longtime coach at Division III Amherst David Hixon, and Gene Bess, who won 1,300 games as a junior college coach at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, are among the other Hall of Fame nominees.
The shortlisted players and coaches will be honored at ceremonies on Aug. 11 and 12 in Connecticut and Massachusetts.