NBA legends Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki have been confirmed as three members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2023.
On Saturday, it was announced Tony Parker, Wade, Gasol and Nowitzki would join Becky Hammon and Gregg Popovich as the headliners for the 2023 class set to be enshrined on 11 and 12 August at ceremonies in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano, the 1976 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team and former Purdue coach Gene Keady, former Texas A&M women’s coach Gary Blair, Division III Amherst coach David Hixon, and Gene Bess – winner of 1,300 games as a junior college coach at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri - were also confirmed as part of the class.
Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo told the new members about the happy news earlier this week before they took their first steps as basketball royalty on Saturday. On ESPN’s broadcast of the announcement in Houston, Miami Heat legend and three-time NBA champion Wade said: “This is basketball heaven.”
The four NBA players - Nowitzki, Parker, Gasol and Wade - combined for 95,092 points, 39 All-Star appearances and 10 NBA championships. Three of them are some of the most successful and iconic international stars in NBA history representing Germany (Nowitzki), France (Parker) and Spain (Gasol), which undoubtedly excited Colangelo.
“This class not only represents all levels of basketball - it represents truly, in every regard, what the game is all about and where it is,” Colangelo told The Associated Press. “I mean, think about the candidates. There’s the countries that are represented, Germany and Spain and France.
“It shows how far the game has come and where it is today. I think maybe it’s the most unique class, I’d say, of all time, and that covers a lot of territory. It stands by itself as in its uniqueness.”
Wade won three titles with Miami, and he joins five former Heat stars - Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Chris Bosh - in having a number retired while entering the Hall of Fame. Spanish star Gasol won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant.
Nowitzki, the German great who influenced the game with his unique combination of big-man size and guard skills immortalised by his trademark fadeaway shot, spent his entire 21-year career with the Dallas Mavericks and led the franchise to its sole NBA championship against all odds in 2011. Parker was the point guard for Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs, winning four rings.
Meanwhile, Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star in her playing career was a key part of Popovich's coaching staff at San Antonio and is currently the head coach of the reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. Popovich is also considered one of the all-time NBA coaches, leading San Antonio to five championships - more than anyone else in league history - while also masterminding the United States’ gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“He’s amazing,” said Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played for Popovich, winning the 1999 NBA championship before coaching under him with USA Basketball at the 2019 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics. “The Hall of Fame was just a formality. Everybody knew he would be there. It was just a matter of when.”
The 2023 class will get its jackets and Hall of Fame rings on 11 August in Uncasville, Connecticut before the ceremony and their speeches will occur on 12 August in Springfield, Massachusetts.
