Paul Pierce, Doug Collins, Michael Cooper and Lauren Jackson headline the group’s first-time nominees for the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class, announced Tuesday on ESPN’s The Jump.
Howard Garfinkel, Lou Henson, Val Ackerman and Yolanda Griffith will also join the first group, along with popular recurring candidates Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Richard Hamilton, Becky Hammon, Swin Cash and Ben Wallace.
Pierce spent 15 of his 19 NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics, winning a championship and final MVP in 2008. He is a 10-time All-Star and second on the Celtics’ all-time scoreboard behind John Havlicek.
A former No. 1 overall draft pick, Collins spent all eight seasons of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers. He is better known for his coaching, starting with the Chicago Bulls in 1986, where he coached Michael Jordan, prior to Phil Jackson. Collins went on to coach the Pistons, Wizards and 76ers and has a career record of 442-407.
Cooper spent 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers as a member of the “Showtime” era, winning five championships. He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and was named to the All-Defensive team five times. After his playing career, he went on to coach the Los Angeles Sparks, where he won two championships and WNBA Coach of the Year in 2000.
Jackson is one of the most decorated women’s players, winning WNBL MVP honors four times and WNBA MVP three times. She is a three-time WNBA scoring champion and seven-time WNBA All-Star, won Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 and was named WNBA Finals MVP in 2010 when she led the Seattle Storm to a championship.
Garfinkel was a legendary basketball scout and founded the Five-Star Basketball Camp, Henson is the winning coach at the University of Illinois and the State of New Mexico, Ackerman was the first president of the WNBA, and Griffith played in the WNBA for 11 years and won a title and Final MVP with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005.
The selection process for the North American and Women’s Commission finalists will take place during the NBA All-Star Weekend, scheduled for early March. The entire class of 2021 will be revealed at the NCAA Final Four, scheduled for early April.
The 2021 class will be inaugurated in Springfield, Massachusetts in September 2021. 15 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.