Pippen, Malone lead 2010 NBA Hall of Fame class
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen and two of the best U.S. Olympic teams were selected on Monday as part of the 2010 induction class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame...
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen and two of the best U.S. Olympic teams were selected on Monday as part of the 2010 induction class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
“This is a great moment. This is something that I never dreamed would happen to me as a player,” Pippen said. “This is very special to me as a kid who walked on at the University of Central Arkansas.”
NBA veterans Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson and Brazil star Maciel “Ubiratan” Pereira will be honored posthumously.
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, WNBA star Cynthia Cooper and U.S. high school coaching great Bob Hurley, Sr., were also in the class.
The 1960 and 1992 U.S. Olympic teams, which both won Olympic gold medals, will be part of the induction ceremony on Aug. 13. Malone and Pippen, both eligible for election for the first time, were part of the original Dream Team in 1992.
“Playing for your country is the ultimate,” said Larry Bird, who represented the team at Monday’s ceremony. “Our team was pretty special. We had some pretty good players.”
Bird also was thrilled by Dennis Johnson’s inclusion.
“It’s very special. We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” he said. “He’s the best player I ever played with.”
Dennis Johnson, a three-time NBA champion, was the MVP of the 1979 Finals with Seattle before taking over as the point guard on the Bird-led Boston Celtics teams of the mid-1980s. He died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 52.
Pippen made seven All-Star teams during his 17-year NBA career and won six championships alongside Michael Jordan, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year.
Malone, a two-time NBA MVP, was an All-Star in 14 of his 19 seasons who led the Utah Jazz to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. The second-leading scorer in NBA history, Malone finished his career in 2004 with 36,928 points.
Gus Johnson, who died in 1987 at 48, led the Baltimore Bullets to five playoff appearances, including the 1971 finals. Pereira, who died in 2002 at 58, won a gold medal at the 1963 worlds, a silver at the 1970 worlds, and a bronze at the 1964 Olympics. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame last September.
Buss has owned the Lakers since 1979, since which they have won nine NBA championships. He also owned the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks from 1996-2006, and they won two titles.
Cooper won two WNBA MVP awards and led the Houston Comets to the league’s first four championships. Hurley won 24 New Jersey state championships in 38 seasons coaching at St. Anthony High School.
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