Tag: Hall of Fame

Yet despite all these credentials and …

Yet despite all these credentials and then some, Toni Kukoc has yet to be named a Hall of Famer. This year was the third in a row that the Croatian great wasn’t inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after being among the nominees. “Honestly, it means a lot more to me that I played alongside Michael Jordan and won NBA titles,” Kukoc said in an interview with Croatian website tportal. “I have no influence in my induction into the Hall of Fame. People are asked to decide and I’d really like to know who these people are. It’s allegedly unknown who they are because they haven’t been presented publicly. I really don’t know whether or not I’ll ever enter the Hall of Fame. Would I like it? Of course, I would! Well, another year has passed but nothing happened.”

The former three-time champion with the …

The former three-time champion with the Chicago Bulls said that he prefers to shift his attention to a passion that shares with former teammate Michael Jordan: Golfing. “After all, what am I going to say about myself? But if my former coaches, former teammates, and basketball experts say I am one of the top 3-4 European players of all time, what are we talking about? Maybe they all don’t know what they’re talking about? It doesn’t make sense to talk about that any more… You know, I would rather spend that energy playing an 18-hole golf course.”

Garnett said he will not call for his …

Garnett said he will not call for his induction to be a ’08 Celtics reunion, but everybody is invited. “That’s not important,” he said Monday. “I wouldn’t dare ask those guys to do that. I’m not a guy to do that. If someone wants to do something on their own, fine. That ’08 team, I have connections with everybody on that team. We will forever be brothers. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“I’ve been very vocal on my distaste …

“I’ve been very vocal on my distaste for what Ray did, that was real for everybody that was involved,” Garnett said. “That’s real life. We was in real beef with Miami at the time and very similar to if someone was to go from the Lakers to the Celtics and vice versa. No one will speak on the underlyings of it, but that was a real thing. Miami and Boston. That was a real thing. Yeah, Ray made a decision; I wouldn’t expect Ray to be at anything of mine. And vice versa. If I see him, I’ll speak. I’ll say hello to his family like always and keep it pushing. He knows that decision altered and made us all feel different.”

To be going in with this vaunted class …

To be going in with this vaunted class — with Kobe and Duncan — how special does that feel? It’s perhaps the most star-studded Hall of Fame ever. Kevin Garnett: The achievement itself is supremely over the top and the culmination of the things I’ve worked on, the countless hours you’ve put into a craft. It’s something special. The way I came in: Not going to college, taking a real bet on myself and betting on my work ethic and pushing myself night in and night out, being a professional and doing it the right way. Never taking shortcuts. Going hard as I can, you want to be able to look back on it and say that it was worth something. To meet Kobe early, we had a friendship and a real bond. To go up against Timmy and the countless battles, it’s just … I couldn’t put this story, with all the minor details … I couldn’t make this story more compelling than it already is. This is the perfect way to end a dope story.

You had a rivalry with Tim throughout …

You had a rivalry with Tim throughout your career, mostly because of the beast that was the Western Conference and the power forwards across the conference, including him, Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber. How ironic is it now that you and Tim are going in together? Kevin Garnett: Yeah, man. In the sense of having a career, you never know how long it’s going to go. You don’t even know if you’re even going to have one. So to have one, and be pretty good at it and you can look back at accolades and won some things and most importantly, left your print on the game … Timmy, for me, him and Rasheed were always the pinnacle. They were always the more tougher matchup for me personally. Lot of times going into matchups, I had a lot of upside when I came in. I can say that these two were one of the difficult ones for me.

Pierce and the Celtics defeated Kobe, …

Pierce and the Celtics defeated Kobe, Pau and the Lakers in the 2008 Finals. However, the Lakers got their revenge on Pierce and the Celtics in the 2010 Finals, when Bryant, Gasol and Los Angeles defeated the Celtics in seven games. Pierce says Bryant made Gasol tougher and “a Hall of Famer.” “We had four All-Stars,” Paul Pierce told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on All The Smoke. “He (Kobe Bryant) had two, he had Pau Gasol, but he toughened Pau Gasol up. Cuz that first Finals, we ran through Pau Gasol. Kobe made him a Hall of Famer.”

Rudy Tomjanovich eyes Olajuwon, Murphy as Hall of Fame presenters

Rudy Tomjanovich is asking Hall of Famers and Rockets legends Calvin Murphy and Hakeem Olajuwon to present him at his August induction.

Former Houston Rockets player and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich is asking franchise icons Calvin Murphy and Hakeem Olajuwon to formally present him later this year at his Hall of Fame induction.

Tomjanovich played with Murphy throughout his 11-year career from 1970 thrugh 1981, while Olajuwon was the star player during his two NBA championships as a coach in 1994 and 1995.

Murphy immediately accepted the honor. In comments to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston, the Hall of Fame guard said Monday:

I would have been very, very disappointed and very hurt if I had not been at his right hand when he accepts his enshrinement. That was absolutely fabulous. It doesn’t get any better than that. Over the 10 years we roomed together, over the years we’ve known each other, I can’t begin to tell you how much time we spent talking basketball.

The fact that Rudy Tomjanovich and Calvin Murphy came into the NBA together, we cried together, we laughed together, and now we’re going to be in the Hall of Fame together. It don’t get any better than that.

As for Olajuwon, a Hall of Fame center, Tomjanovich told Berman:

If Hakeem isn’t on the team when I get the job, you guys will probably be saying ‘Hey, remember that guy with the long last name who used to play for the Rockets?’ People wouldn’t know who I am right now. I was just blessed to have such a great player that we could build around. He’s the key ingredient to this whole deal.

In his 11-plus seasons as head coach, Tomjanovich led the Rockets to a 503-397 (.559) regular-season record and a 51-39 (.567) mark in the NBA playoffs, headlined by Houston’s two championships in 1994 and 1995. He is by far the winningest coach in franchise history.

Besides his extensive accomplishments as a coach, “Rudy T” was also a dynamic player ⁠— with averages of 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He was a five-time All-Star at power forward.

Tomjanovich and other members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 are scheduled to be enshrined on Saturday, Aug. 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Former NBA players to be inducted will include Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and the late Kobe Bryant.

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