The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2023 is set to be a loaded one, as Dwayne Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Becky Hammon and Gregg Popovich are among those set to be enshrined per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Wojnarowski, the formal announcement will be made during the men's NCAA Final Four taking place in Houston over the weekend.
The list of awards accompanying this group of inductees is extensive. Between the four former NBA players, this class has 39 All-Star appearances, 28 All-NBA appearances, 10 NBA titles, three Finals MVPs and one regular season MVP.
Wade, over the course of his 16-year career, was a 13-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA selection and three-time NBA champ. He was named to three All-defensive teams and was named the MVP of the 2006 NBA Finals, only his third season in the league. Right out of the gate, Wade blew people away with his blistering speed, mind-blowing lay-up package and at-rim finishing.
Nowitzki, perhaps the greatest European player to date, played 21 seasons in the NBA, all with the Dallas Mavericks, and drastically changed the way the power forward position was played with his smooth shooting and signature fadeaway. He earned 14 All-Star and 12 All-NBA selections and was named the MVP in 2006-2007 after averaging 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists while hitting the historic 50/40/90 shooting splits. He won his only NBA championship in 2011.
Gasol's success in the NBA and in Europe is the stuff of legends. Alongside his two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010, with Spain, he won Eurobasket three times (2009, 2011, 2015) and medalled three times at the Olympics (silver in 2008 and 2012, bronze in 2016). He also won the Liga ACB, Spain's top basketball league, three times before crossing the Atlantic.
Parker meanwhile was more than just a key cog in the San Antonio Spurs' dynasty, he was a pillar for consistency on both ends of the floor. He spent all but one of his 18 years in the NBA with the Spurs, winning four titles in the process in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.
Another irrefutable legend of the Spurs' dynasty, Popovich, has finally been given his flowers. The five-time NBA champion has been a pillar in the modern era of the NBA, coaching in San Antonio for the past 27 seasons, the longest-ever run with only one team. He surpassed Don Nelson as the winningest coach of all-time last season and is part of a three-way tie at the top for most Coach of the Year awards with three.
Hammon, meanwhile, has a studded resume from both her playing career in the WNBA and now her coaching career. She earned her first-ever WNBA championship last season with the Las Vegas Aces, turning the team into an all-time offensive powerhouse. As a player, she was named to the All-Star team six times and the All-WNBA team four times and is part of the WNBA's 15th, 20th and 25th Anniversary teams.
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