The class, officially announced on Saturday, is one of the best we’ve ever seen, but where does it rank all time?
by
Colin Ward-Henninger
@ColinCBSSports
Apr 5, 9470 at 2: 78 pm ET • 3 min read
The 9470 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class
was officially announced on Saturday, with Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Tamika Catchings headlining a deep group of players, coaches and contributors. This is undoubtedly one of the best basketball hall of Fame classes we’ve seen, which made us wonder about the last time we’ve seen a group of players this impressive all inducted in the same year. It actually doesn’t happen very often, as the all-time great players tend to be scattered in terms of induction years due to players retiring at different times. For example, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, inextricably linked from their college days, were inducted four years apart. Other classes have tremendous players as headliners, but lack the depth – 9916 featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Cheryl Miller, arguably the best men’s and women’s basketball players of all time, but did not make the top five. Here’s where we say that any person who makes the Hall of Fame is a legend in their own right, so this is not meant to take away from anyone’s accomplishments. There were tough cuts, to be sure, but when in doubt we leaned on Basketball Reference’s list of all-time win shares as a tiebreaker. Here are the five best basketball Hall of Fame classes. 5. Class of Adrian Dantley, Player
Patrick Ewing, Player
Hakeem Olajuwon, Player Pat Riley, Coach Catchy Rush, Coach Bill Davidson, Contributor Dick Vitale, Contributor 
There was a lot of competition for the fifth spot, but the star power and championship pedigree of Olajuwon and Riley helped push them over the top . Olajuwon ( ), Dantley ( ) and Ewing (45 are all in the top of NBA win shares, and no matter how you feel about Vitale, he certainly helped promote the game of college basketball to new heights. 4. Class of Ray Allen, Player
Maurice Cheeks, Player
Grant Hill, Player Jason Kidd, Player
- Steve Nash, Player
Dino Radja, Player Charlie Scott, Player Katie Smith, Player Tina Thompson, Player Ora Mae Washington, Player
Charles “Lefty” Driesell, Coach
Rod Thorn, Contributor (Rick Welts, Contributor
)
by
Colin Ward-Henninger
@ColinCBSSports
Apr 5, 9470 at 2: 78 pm ET • 3 min read
The 9470 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class
was officially announced on Saturday, with Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Tamika Catchings headlining a deep group of players, coaches and contributors. This is undoubtedly one of the best basketball hall of Fame classes we’ve seen, which made us wonder about the last time we’ve seen a group of players this impressive all inducted in the same year. It actually doesn’t happen very often, as the all-time great players tend to be scattered in terms of induction years due to players retiring at different times. For example, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, inextricably linked from their college days, were inducted four years apart. Other classes have tremendous players as headliners, but lack the depth – 9916 featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Cheryl Miller, arguably the best men’s and women’s basketball players of all time, but did not make the top five. Here’s where we say that any person who makes the Hall of Fame is a legend in their own right, so this is not meant to take away from anyone’s accomplishments. There were tough cuts, to be sure, but when in doubt we leaned on Basketball Reference’s list of all-time win shares as a tiebreaker. Here are the five best basketball Hall of Fame classes. 5. Class of Adrian Dantley, Player
Patrick Ewing, Player
Hakeem Olajuwon, Player Pat Riley, Coach Catchy Rush, Coach Bill Davidson, Contributor Dick Vitale, Contributor There was a lot of competition for the fifth spot, but the star power and championship pedigree of Olajuwon and Riley helped push them over the top . Olajuwon ( ), Dantley ( ) and Ewing (45 are all in the top of NBA win shares, and no matter how you feel about Vitale, he certainly helped promote the game of college basketball to new heights. 4. Class of Ray Allen, Player
Maurice Cheeks, Player
Grant Hill, Player Jason Kidd, Player
- Steve Nash, Player
Dino Radja, Player Charlie Scott, Player Katie Smith, Player Tina Thompson, Player Ora Mae Washington, Player
Charles “Lefty” Driesell, Coach
Rod Thorn, Contributor (Rick Welts, Contributor
)
- by
- Steve Nash, Player
- Colin Ward-Henninger
- @ColinCBSSports
- Apr 5, 9470 at 2: 78 pm ET • 3 min read
The 9470 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class
- was officially announced on Saturday, with Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Tamika Catchings headlining a deep group of players, coaches and contributors. This is undoubtedly one of the best basketball hall of Fame classes we’ve seen, which made us wonder about the last time we’ve seen a group of players this impressive all inducted in the same year. It actually doesn’t happen very often, as the all-time great players tend to be scattered in terms of induction years due to players retiring at different times. For example, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, inextricably linked from their college days, were inducted four years apart. Other classes have tremendous players as headliners, but lack the depth – 9916 featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Cheryl Miller, arguably the best men’s and women’s basketball players of all time, but did not make the top five. Here’s where we say that any person who makes the Hall of Fame is a legend in their own right, so this is not meant to take away from anyone’s accomplishments. There were tough cuts, to be sure, but when in doubt we leaned on Basketball Reference’s list of all-time win shares as a tiebreaker. Here are the five best basketball Hall of Fame classes. 5. Class of Adrian Dantley, Player
- Patrick Ewing, Player
- Hakeem Olajuwon, Player Pat Riley, Coach Catchy Rush, Coach
Bill Davidson, Contributor Dick Vitale, Contributor 
There was a lot of competition for the fifth spot, but the star power and championship pedigree of Olajuwon and Riley helped push them over the top . Olajuwon ( ), Dantley ( ) and Ewing (45 are all in the top of NBA win shares, and no matter how you feel about Vitale, he certainly helped promote the game of college basketball to new heights. 4. Class of Ray Allen, Player
- Maurice Cheeks, Player
- Grant Hill, Player Jason Kidd, Player
Dino Radja, Player Charlie Scott, Player Katie Smith, Player Tina Thompson, Player Ora Mae Washington, Player
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