Lindsay Whalen has taken another step towards the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Announced as a first-time nominee in December, Whalen was named a finalist for the class of 2022 on Friday. The induction class will be announced on April 2 at the men's Final Four.
"It's something you dream of," Whalen said. "It's a lifetime deal. It's like the Olympics, one of those things you can only dream of growing up in your backyard, playing in your driveway.''
Whalen's résumé is well-known: a six-time WNBA All-Star, three-time all-WNBA first teamer, part of four WNBA championship Lynx teams, and owner of two Olympic gold medals. She is now coaching the Gophers women's basketball team.
She is one of two first-time finalists; the other is four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili.
Others who are finalists are referee Hugh Evans; former NBA stars Michael Cooper and Tim Hardaway; former NCAA Player of the Year Marques Johnson; coaches Bob Huggins, Marianne Stanley and George Karl; ex-WNBA All-Star Swin Cash; and the winningest high school coach in U.S. history, Leta Andrews.
When she was first nominated, Whalen said making the Hall was a goal she started thinking of later in her WNBA career.
The Hutchinson, Minn., native led the University of Minnesota to the NCAA Final Four in the spring of 2004. The fourth-overall pick in the 2004 WNBA draft, she was a part of Connecticut Sun teams that made it to the league finals in her first two seasons.
Traded to the Lynx before the 2010 season, Whalen and the Lynx won the first of four WNBA titles in 2011, with others following in 2013, 2015 and 2017, winning her final title on the Williams Arena floor.
And now she's one step away from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
"It's hard to comprehend,'' she said. "But, honestly, I'm very honored, very proud."
