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A Trend For Coaches In Hall Election?

April 8, 2013  ·  3:07PM

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Jerry Tarkanian, 82, was in Atlanta for the official announcement, needing a walker to get to the podium and struggling to climb a few stairs before sitting on stage in a chair. Guy Lewis, 91, was sort of there, unable to travel from his Houston home but joining in via phone call a speaker to share his thoughts with the entire ballroom of the skyscraper hotel.

Rick Pitino was in Atlanta on Monday too, although the Louisville coach would have been anyway. Something about a work commitment later in the night.

The wave of coaches going into the Hall of Fame, now officially headed for enshrinement as members of the Class of 2013 with Gary Payton and Bernard King from the North American committee that handles most candidates with NBA ties, was impossible to miss. Not just that Tarkanian and Lewis had made it to Springfield, Mass., after long waits. It’s that more coaches were elected than players.

This is a change – one coach made it through the two-stage voting process last year (Don Nelson), two did in 2011 (Tex Winter, Herb Magee), one in 2010 (Bob Hurley Sr. from the high school ranks), one in 2009 (Jerry Sloan) and one in 2008 (Pat Riley). Maybe it’s just how the process played out this year, with no particular deeper meaning other than a lot of room for enshrinement with Payton as the only mortal lock on the ballot and voters sticking to the recent emphasis from the Hall to reconsider past omissions. So, Lewis was elected after retiring in 1986 and Tarkanian after retiring in 2002, and Tark had been up for consideration so many times that he was removed for a lack of support before becoming eligible again this cycle.

But if this is a hint of a new direction from the process kept secret to the point that vote totals are not even released, the possibilities just became endless from the NBA side alone.

If Tom Heinsohn (427-263, two titles with the Celtics) made it through the first round of balloting before falling short of receiving at least 18 of 24 votes for enshrinement, the case for Rudy Tomjanovich (527-416, two titles with the Rockets, plus an Olympic gold) got a lot better. John Bach, Bill Fitch, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Dick Motta were also nominated this year through the North American committee, while Bob (Slick) Leonard was a candidate in the ABA category and Al Attles, Del Harris and Gene Shue were considered via the Contributor field.

The future options are the most intriguing of all. Gregg Popovich has yet to be nominated, by his preference, just as Sloan for years asked people not to put him on the ballot. Similar to Sloan finally relenting when he could be inducted with John Stockton, maybe Popovich starts to make Springfield once Tim Duncan retires in eight or 10 years. Then Pop can enter the Hall while hoping no one notices him.

George Karl has not been nominated, not by his choice. He would have to receive strong support. Rick Adelman has not been nominated, an especially relevant detail days after he became the eighth coach to win 1,000 games and everyone except Karl who has reached the milestone is in the Hall. A potential Adelman candidacy might be hurt as one of the most non-networking guys in the league, when being clubby appears to help the process for some, but getting to a grand would be difficult to overlook. (It didn’t help Nelson for years, though.) John Calipari, now at Kentucky but formerly a head coach with the Nets and an assistant with the 76ers, is not on the ballot either.

For now, the only certainty is that Tarkanian, Pitino and Lewis will be inducted with Payton and King, after his own long wait, Sept. 8, along with the two enshrinees from the Women’s committee revealed Monday, North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell and former star guard Dawn Staley. They will all join the five people whose elections were announced in February: Roger Brown (ABA), Edwin B. Henderson (Early African American Pioneers), Oscar Schmidt (International), Richard Guerin (Veterans) and Russ Granik (Contributor).

What happens in the next Hall voting cycle, though, just became a trend to watch.
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Payton, King, Others Elected To Hall

April 8, 2013  ·  12:06PM

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Former scoring star Bernard King and coaches Jerry Tarkanian and Guy Lewis have been elected to the Hall of Fame after long waits as the Springfield, Mass., basketball museum continued its stated mission of new chances for candidates that have been overlooked in the past. Those three, along with expected inductee Gary Payton and active coach Rick Pitino, headline the Class of 2013.

Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway, Spencer Haywood, Tom Heinsohn (as a coach, after previously making it as a player) and Mitch Richmond failed to receive at least 18 votes from 24 anonymous panelists from around the NBA and college game that decide the finalists from the North American committee.

In the other results announced Monday in Atlanta as part of the Final Four, North Carolina women’s coach Sylvia Hatchell and former star guard Dawn Staley were elected via the Women’s committee. They were the only finalists.

The just-announced inductees will be enshrined Sept. 8 in Springfield with the winners announced in February from other categories: Roger Brown (ABA), Edwin B. Henderson (Early African American Pioneers), Oscar Schmidt (International), Richard Guerin (Veterans) and Russ Granik (Contributor).

King’s election comes 20 years after his retirement, while Lewis, who coached 29 future NBA players at the University of Houston, left the sideline in 1986. Tarkanian last coached in 2002. Tarkanian, best known for his college work but also the coach of the Spurs for 20 games at the start of 1992-93, has been on the ballot so many times that he was removed for a lack of support before becoming eligible again this voting cycle.

Payton was the closest thing to a first-ballot automatic since Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen in 2010, an impossible candidate to deny after Dennis Rodman and then Reggie Miller both failed to make the finalist’s list their first year of eligibility but then went all the way to induction in the second. Being chosen for the All-Star game nine times and voted first-team All-Defense nine teams meant Payton would get no such rookie hazing.

The announcement of Pitino’s election came hours before his team, Louisville, will play for the national championship a few miles away in Atlanta. The former coach of the Knicks and Celtics is the only person to take three different schools to the men’s Final Four.
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Chances For The 2013 Hall Of Fame Class

April 4, 2013  ·  2:11PM

This is a little late because Mitch Richmond, a pretty decent source on the topic, already broke the news (via Twitter) that he did not get elected to the Hall of Fame. For most of the other candidates in the 2013 Hall of Fame class set to be unveiled Monday, uncertainty remains.

Gary Payton is in – according to someone close to the situation, in this case not named Richmond – and Richmond is out. In full disclosure, I would have had Payton as a lock (the only one) and given Richmond a good chance. That leaves eight from the North American committee to be revealed, seven with NBA ties plus college coach Guy Lewis.

Estimating the chances of the seven is a fool’s errand with Hall of Fame voting notoriously unpredictable, as proven by the fact that I would not have given Tom Heinsohn a shot to make the second and final stage of balloting as a coach. But based on decisions from recent years that (hopefully) give some indication of trends for this time, feedback from people around the game and the usual factor of the average 30-year fixed mortgage divided by the square root of the combined jersey numbers of the previous NBA champion multiplied by the wind velocity at City Hall in Springfield, Mass., at noon today, I am just that fool.

Maurice Cheeks

Hall of Fame Chances: Decent

Summary: Four-time All-Star, five-time All-Defense (four on the first-team), key member of the 1983 title team in Philadelphia, No. 5 all-time in steals.

Tim Hardaway

Hall of Fame Chances: Decent

Summary: Five-time All-Star, first-team All-NBA once, No. 13 in career assists, won an Olympic gold medal in 2000.

Spencer Haywood

Hall of Fame Chances: Good

Summary: Four-time NBA All-Star, averaged at least 20 points a game six times in the NBA, first-team All-NBA twice, member of 1980 championship team with the Lakers, ABA Rookie of the Year, ABA MVP, star of the 1968 Olympic team that won a gold medal (as he refused to join other African-American standouts in a boycott).

Tommy Heinsohn

Hall of Fame Chances: Poor

Summary: Nominated as a coach after being elected as a player in 1986. As a coach, won two championships with the Celtics, Coach of the Year, but only 427 career wins.

Bernard King

Hall of Fame Chances: Good

Summary: Averaged 22.5 ppg in his career, one of the premier offensive threats from the late-1970s through the early-1990s despite major knee injuries, four-time All-Star, two-time first-team All-NBA, Comeback Player of the Year.

Gary Payton

Original Hall of Fame chances: Lock

Updated Hall of Fame chances: Lock

Summary: Nine-time All-Star, nine-time All-Defense, two-time first-team All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, championship with the Heat in 2006, Olympic gold medalist in 1996 and 2000, retired as No. 4 in career steals and No. 8 in assists.

Rick Pitino

Chances: Good

Summary: The only coach to take three schools to the Final Four, won the 1996 national championship with Kentucky and has a strong chance this season with Louisville (with the title game hours after the Hall of Fame announcement), has been to the Final Four seven times, coached the Knicks and Celtics.

Mitch Richmond

Original Hall of Fame chances: Good

Updated Hall of Fame chances: Not-so-good.

Summary: Six-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year, three-time second-team All-NBA, averaged 21 points a game for 10 consecutive seasons, member of the 2002 championship team with the Lakers, won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics and a bronze in 1988.

Jerry Tarkanian

Hall of Fame Chances: Decent

Summary: Won 990 games in his college career, guided UNLV to the 1990 national championship, four trips to the Final Four, owns the highest junior-college winning percentage (.891), coached the Spurs. Back on the ballot after being removed for lack of support, there is a renewed push for induction with Tarkanian in failing health.

Winners who receive at least 18 of 24 votes in anonymous voting will be announced Monday in Atlanta as part of Final Four festivities. Inductees from the Women’s committee, with North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell and former star guard Dawn Staley as finalists, will be revealed at the same time. Roger Brown (ABA committee), Edwin B. Henderson (Early African American Pioneers), Oscar Schmidt (International), Richard Guerin (Veterans) and Russ Granik (Contributor) have already been elected.

The enshrinement ceremony is Sept. 8 in Springfield.

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Hall of Fame Debate: Mitch Richmond

April 1, 2013  ·  5:28PM

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HANG TIME WEST – This is the month that potentially changes the future for Mitch Richmond, starting early next week and then to the April 18-19 debate that would be historic not only for Richmond, but the entire league.

Richmond is a minority investor in the attempt to keep the Kings in Sacramento, and that group will be in New York on Wednesday along with leaders of the Seattle bid for the Kings for presentations to league executives as the showdown intensifies in advance of the April 18-19 Board of Governors vote. Richmond is a finalist for the Hall of Fame, and the Class of 2013 will be announced next Monday in Atlanta as part of the Final Four.

Two cities, two historic votes, two very uncertain outcomes for Richmond. One legacy possibly being altered.

Richmond has remained close to the NBA since retiring after 2001-02, working under close friend and former teammate Chris Mullin in basketball operations in Golden State when Mullin ran personnel and staying visible at other league functions. Making the Hall of Fame, though, is a different level of visible. Making the Hall of Fame the same month he could become an owner, however small the stake, and perhaps joining the front office turns this into his potential forever April.

Several portions of his resume will be touted: star at Kansas State, Olympian in 1988 (bronze) and 1996 (gold), Rookie of the Year in 1988-89, a career average of 21 points a game over 14 seasons with three-point range and a post game, cornerstone of the Run TMC fun bench of the Warriors, three-time selection as second-team All-NBA, small role in the Lakers’ 2002 championship. That is the platform of a strong candidate.

But nothing boosts his chances, and makes Richmond a unique finalist, like being picked for six All-Star games, because he wasn’t just being picked for six All-Star games. He was being picked while playing for the bottom-feeding Kings of the 1990s by coaches who would not have rewarded good numbers on a bad team year after year if they didn’t rate him along the elite. Top that as an endorsement.

Richmond was one of the better guards for an NBA generation that included Michael Jordan, John Stockton and Gary Payton, the leading candidate for enshrinement this year. The people who coached against Richmond, and routinely beat Richmond’s team, kept choosing him as an All-Star when it would have been easy to say players from good clubs were more deserving. Not many have been able to make that part of candidacy.

The other finalists from the North American commitee that handles most candidates with an NBA background are Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway (another initial member of Run TMC with Mullin), Spencer Haywood, Tom Heinsohn (already in as a player, now up as a coach), Bernard King, Rick Pitino and Jerry Tarkanian.

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Hall of Fame Debate: Tom Heinsohn

March 17, 2013  ·  4:01PM

Tom Heinsohn is already in the Hall of Fame. That is, as a member of the Class of 1986 in tribute to 18.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, eight championships and six All-Star appearances in nine seasons as a Celtic, along with three starring years at Holy Cross.

The 2013 bid, now at the second and final stage of voting, is for his coaching career, which changes the dynamic of the debate.

Simply: Should Heinsohn join John Wooden and Lenny Wilkens, originally elected as players and later as coaches, as the only individual double inductees?

The 24 anonymous voters – former players, executives and college athletic-department administrators, media members, other “contributors to the game” – are charged with deciding based only on the category in question, not other work by the candidate. In Heinsohn’s case, his coaching credentials should be the singular issue, not whether he deserves to be in the elite sub-section with Wooden and Wilkens.

Whether the secret 24 stick to the singular issue, though, will never be known in a process that always includes the weighing of intangibles. Maybe the idea of putting Heinsohn in that rarefied air becomes an additional hurdle to clear. Maybe not. Maybe continuing to have a presence around the league, as a Celtics color analyst, does the trick. Maybe not.

Maybe he will be in trouble if his coaching record is judged on that alone.

Heinsohn was on the Boston sideline from 1969-70 until being fired 34 games into 1977-78. He won championships in 1974 and ‘76 and was voted Coach of the Year in 1973. The lifetime mark of 427-263 (.619) includes five Atlantic Division titles.

Having two titles and one Coach of the Year will obviously be mentioned prominently as votes are cast in advance of the April 8 announcement of the inductees. But, of the 16 former NBA coaches in Springfield, Mass., only Johnny Kundla of the Minneapolis Lakers (423-302) totaled fewer wins, and he won four championships and also coached the University of Minnesota for nine seasons. Tex Winter went 51-78 with the Rockets, but was enshrined in 2011 based on his work in college and as an NBA assistant.

How Heinsohn reached the finalist stage while Rudy Tomjanovich failed to make it out of the first round of voting will also remain a mystery. Heinsohn was 427-263 with two titles, “Rudy T” was 527-416 (.559) with two crowns in Houston (plus a gold medal in the Olympics and a bronze in the world championships), and yet only one of them advanced. Dick Motta (935-1,017, one title, one Coach of the Year), Bill Fitch (944-1,106, one title, two Coach of the Years) and Del Harris (556-457, one Coach of the Year) also failed to receive enough support in the initial balloting.

If Heinsohn gets in, the Tomjanovich candidacy for future years becomes much, much stronger.

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Thibodeau Rips Bulls And Their Coach

March 14, 2013  ·  1:41AM

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It became the “All Bulls Watch,” not merely the never-ending “Derrick Rose Watch,” sometime Wednesday night as Chicago was enduring the embarrassment of a 121-79 loss to the Kings. Maybe it happened while Sacramento was shooting 54.2 percent or maybe while the visitors were hitting 2-for-21 on 3-pointers and getting beat on the boards by one of the worst-rebounding teams in the league.

After the game, the Bulls were put on notice.

Official word came courtesy of coach Tom Thibodeau, whose four-minute session with the media after the debacle at Sleep Train Arena was more like a steam letting. He called out the Bulls for lack of readiness, weak energy and … a bad job by the coach.

Asked what disappointed him most about getting blown out by the 23-43 Kings, Thibodeau said, “Just about everything.”

“Our level of intensity is very poor,” the coach fumed. “Our readiness to play is very poor. I was the most disappointed in myself. My job is to have them ready. We can’t come out like that. That’s on me. I didn’t like our intensity in the Laker game, I didn’t like it tonight. I’ve got to drive harder. And I will. There’s a fine line right now because we’re down people. For us, being shorthanded, we can never forget how hard we have to play. The guys that are there, I’ve got to get that intensity up. And I will. Trust me on that one.”

What can you do?

“We’ll see.”

There was no sign of the Bulls practicing in the parking lot at 10 p.m. or the team walking the 75 miles to Oakland for the next game, Friday against the Warriors. But there’s always Thursday.

“You go on the road, you have to defend, you have to rebound, you have to take care of the ball, you have to play inside out, you have to share the ball, you have to do your job,” Thibodeau said. “But the most important thing is being ready to play. You have to be ready to play. This is a competition. It’s not a show. It’s a competition. You’ve got to compete. You’ve got to play with an edge. You’ve got to go after people.”

Playing Wednesday without Kirk Hinrich, Taj Gibson and, of course, Rose, the Bulls lost for the fourth time in five games and the 11th in the last 17. They have shot 38.6, 37.1, 37 and 36.7 percent, respectively, in the most recent outings — even with the Kings at No. 29 in the league in field-goal defense at the start of the night.

“There’s two things you have to have to have great intensity,” Thibodeau said. “You have to have great concentration and you have to give great effort. That’s what gives you great intensity. When you’re lacking in intensity, you have to go back to those two things. You have to have ask yourself, ‘Are we as prepared as we need to be?’ And that’s my job. I’m going to make sure that happens.”

Have a fun next practice, Bulls.

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Fan Voting For Hall Of Fame Postponed

February 19, 2013  ·  2:07PM

Plans to introduce fan voting as part of the Hall of Fame election have been abandoned for this year. Officials say they expect to implement the idea for the Class of 2014.

“We absolutely hope to do it in the future,” said John Doleva, the CEO and president of the Springfield, Mass., basketball museum. “It’s a big priority for the Hall of Fame and for chairman [Jerry] Colangelo. It was just a little more complicated than we thought in terms of execution and getting ready and getting ramped up.”

Officials lined up a media partner, ESPN, to promote the concept. But the Hall did not have important sponsorships in place, prompting the decision to postpone.

“We would love to find a corporation to get behind this and support it through their media and help them sell product,” Doleva said. “It’s one of those things when you think about it, they’d be able to impact the vote and to get chatter going back and forth about the finalists and ‘Should this person be in? Should that person be in?’ I think there’s a lot of value there. We’re hoping to, in 2014, definitely do that.”

Under the working plan, the anonymous voters selected by the Hall — basketball officials, former players and/or coaches, athletic directors, media — would still decide the finalists. Mass participation would begin once that list is revealed at All-Star weekend in February, with fans part of the second layer of balloting that decides enshrinement later that summer. The top three finishers would get one additional vote toward the final decision, providing a 25th chance to get the 18 votes needed for induction rather than the current model of 18 from 24 electors.

That Hall proposal would give fans a strong voice, possibly the difference between election and disappointment, without the level of influence some consider would turn the process into a popularity contest along the lines of choosing the All-Star starters. The public could not have a great impact without a sizable support from basketball insiders.

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It’s Finally Time For Trailblazing Haywood

February 15, 2013  ·  5:53PM

HOUSTON — Spencer Haywood was an MVP in the old ABA. He was a two-time All-NBA first teamer, four-time NBA All-Star and a member of the champion Lakers in 1980.

But nothing ever did had the impact of Haywood v. National Basketball Association, 401 U.S. 1204 (1971), a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled, 7–2, against the NBA’s old requirement that a player may not be drafted by a NBA team unless he waited four years (which meant playing at the college level in most cases) following his graduation from high school.

Haywood is the reason that the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwight Howard were able to jump straight from the prep ranks into the NBA.

“They don’t know that, not most of the players today,” said the 63-year-old Haywood on the day that he was named a finalist for the Hall of Fame Class of 2013. “I was kind of thinking they were a little remiss here. I thought it would be talked about as that case.

“That was horrible, hard time. I went from the lower courts to the state court all the way to the Supreme Court and that was some pretty serious stuff there. Two of us were in the courts at that time and (baseball player) Curt Flood lost his case and I won my case. It was powerful.

When you see all these players today, even the older ones on this stage with me — Bob McAdoo, Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins — they all fell under my rule. But those older guys all know.”

What perhaps the younger generation doesn’t know is that Haywood led the U.S. to the gold medal in the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 and then played a spectacular sophomore season at the University of Detroit, averaging 32.1 points and 21.5 rebounds per game. That’s when he decided to turn pro, was first turned away by the NBA and signed on with the ABA Denver Rockets.

“This feels tremendous,” Haywood said. “It’s hard to put in words in terms of how I feel. I’m this poor kid from the cotton fields of Silver City Mississippi, population of 100 people. To be on this stage and possibly on my way to the Hall, just being a finalist, it is tremendous, just something very, very special, beyond anything I could ever imagine.”

There an argument to be made that the honor should have come much sooner.

“No,” Haywood said. “I let everything happen on God’s time and not on my time, because, of course, I would have said years ago. But this is a good time, this is the right time and this is on time.”

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Bernard King May Get Long Overdue Day

February 15, 2013  ·  5:30PM

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HOUSTON – Sometimes the announcement of Hall of Fame candidates is routine. Sometimes there are surprises.

Then along comes a day like Friday when the voters for the Hall have a chance to right a wrong, correct an omission.

Two decades after Bernard King finally stopped terrorizing defenses as one of the greatest 1-on-1 scorers of all-time, the former great was named among the finalists for the North American committee.

It was a day and a step forward that many current Hall of Fame members said was long overdue.

“Bernard King. Bernard King. Bernard King,” said Dominique Wilkins. “I’ve been saying that for years. Bernard King. There should be no debate about it. Bernard King should be in the Hall of Fame.

“I don’t understand why he isn’t there yet. I tell you, I never feared anybody that I ever played against, but I lived in fear of him. The guy was a machine. You could not guard him 1-on-1. You can ask any of the greats of that era. You could not guard him 1-on-1. It was impossible.”

King averaged 22.5 points per game and shot .518 from the field over a 16-year NBA career. The 6-foot-7 small forward set a Nets rookie scoring record, was an All-NBA first teamer in 1984 and 1985 and led the league in scoring (32.5) in 1985.

In 1984 King gave one of the greatest Christmas Day performance ever, playing for the Knicks he scored 60 points, including 40 in the first half.

But somehow King has managed to get lost in the mist of time and slipped through the cracks of the Hall of Fame for the 15 years that he’s been eligible for induction in the Hall.

“Bernard King,” said Bob McAdoo. “I always said that I couldn’t figure that out. I would scratch my head. I’m glad he finally got nominated and now I hope he gets in. Man, Bernard King, he was the truth.

“I don’t know he’s not in already. That’s how it is, I guess. I have people that tell me all the time they don’t understand why I wasn’t (voted) in the top 50 in 1997). When they research they find I was the only MVP and only scoring champ that didn’t make it.

“It seems that sometimes are overlooked. I think that’s what happened. Man, Bernard King was the truth.”

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This Could Be The Year Of Gary Payton

February 15, 2013  ·  5:03PM


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HOUSTON – The day did not belong to Gary Payton. He merely took a predictable step from Hall of Fame nominee to finalist for the Class of 2013, was one of 10 candidates to advance through the North American committee, and on the same Friday it was announced that Roger Brown, Richie Guerin, Russ Granik and others had been elected.

This could become Payton’s year, though. He is the most-deserving candidate with NBA ties to be inducted into the Hall when the second and final round of voting is revealed April 8 at the Final Four in Atlanta, there is a chance he will be enshrined with friend Spencer Haywood, a fellow Las Vegas resident and former SuperSonic, and it could be happening within months of the NBA returning to his beloved Seattle.

That would be enough being on the good side of the basketball gods for one year, except that Payton he has more than an emotional rooting interest in the group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer closing the deal on the Kings sale and relocation: The Glove has, he told NBA.com, had conversations with Hansen about joining the front office of a Seattle operation.

He sees himself as an assistant general manager with a strong voice in personnel decisions – as if the legendary trash talker could have any other kind – and not some famous figurehead with a ceremonial role. (There is no interest in coach.) More than anything, though, Payton sees himself getting back into the NBA after being retired since 2007 following a career as a dominant two-way point guard who would further turn opponents into scorched Earth with his words on the court.

“I would rather be an assistant,” he said. “Right now, you’ve got to work at being a GM. You’ve got to learn a lot. You’ve got take your lumps. I think I would rather take my lumps and be behind somebody and learn it and get taught the right way to do it and then in a couple of years be that type of person.”

And the conversations with Hansen?

“I talk to Chris all the time,” Payton said, adding: “He knows. He’s already knowing anyway that he would want me to be a part of the team anyway. I’ve been with Chris and talked to Chris for a long time.”

Payton was joined by Maurice Cheeks, Bernard King, Tom Heinsohn (as a coach, in addition to his 1986 induction as a player), Mitch Richmond, Rick Pitino, Guy Lewis, Haywood, Jerry Tarkanian and Tim Hardaway as finalists via the North American committee, the panel that handles the majority of nominees with NBA backgrounds. Anyone who receives support on at least 18 of 24 ballots will be enshrined in the Springfield, Mass., basketball museum.

Dawn Staley, a five-time WNBA All-Star, and North Carolina women’s coach Sylvia Hatchell advanced through the Women’s committee and face the same voting process in the second round. Those results will also be announced at the men’s Final Four.

Brown’s election from the ABA panel, one of five groups that decide on the honor with a single ballot, will continue a strong Pacers presence at the late-summer ceremony. The four-time ABA All-Star averaged 17.4 points in eight seasons in the red, white and blue ball league and was part of three title teams in Indianapolis.

Guerin was voted in by the Veterans committee after a 13-year career with the Knicks and St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks with six All-Star appearances and a reputation as one of the best all-around players in the game. He was the first New York player to score 2,000 points in a season.

Granik, elected as a Contributor, spent 30 years in the league office before leaving in 2005 as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer. He played a major role in the NBA expanding beyond North America and with many top international players coming to the United States in the early days of the overseas influence.

Oscar Schmidt, a dazzling scorer from Brazil who also starred in Europe, was voted in via the International panel. He is best known in North America for the gold-medal game of the 1987 Pan-American Games in Indianapolis, the day Schmidt scored 46 points to lead Brazil to a victory over a United States collegiate squad with David Robinson, Danny Manning, Dan Majerle, Rex Chapman and others.

Edwin B. Henderson, known as the Godfather of Black Basketball, was elected by the Early African-American Pioneers committee for his role in the expansion of the game.

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