Springfield, Mass. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today the list of Hall of Famers scheduled to present the Class of 2021 at the Enshrinement Ceremony to be held Saturday, September 11 at MassMutual Center. More than 50 Hall of Famers are expected to be in attendance for the ceremony, including all presenters.
Members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021 were asked to select previous inductees to accompany and present them to their peers. The choice is solely the decision of the incoming Hall of Famers, or their family members if recognized posthumously.
The Class of 2021 inductees are ninth-winningest coach in NBA history Rick Adelman, two-time NBA champion and 11-time NBA All-Star Chris Bosh, NBA Finals MVP and 10-time NBA All-Star Paul Pierce, the first Black NBA head coach Bill Russell, four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and NBA Champion Ben Wallace, five-time NBA All-Star and NBA Rookie of the Year Chris Webber, two-time NCAA national champion Villanova coach Jay Wright, seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith and seven-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player Lauren Jackson.
Distinguished committees focused on preserving all areas from the game also selected seven directly elected honorees: Val Ackerman, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Howard Garfinkel from the Contributor Committee, Clarence “Fats” Jenkins from the Early African American Pioneers Committee, Toni Kukoc from the International Committee, Bob Dandridge from the Veterans Committee and Pearl Moore from the Women’s Veterans Committee.
The 2021 Hall of Fame Inductees and Presenters:
Val Ackerman, presented by Russ Granik (’13), Rick Welts (’18)
Rick Adelman, presented by Vlade Divac (’19), Jack Sikma (’19)
Chris Bosh, presented by Ray Allen (’18), Pat Riley (’08)
Bob Dandridge, presented by Oscar Robertson (’80)
Cotton Fitzsimmons, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Jerry Colangelo (’04), Phil Knight (’12)
Howard Garfinkel, presented byJohn Calipari (’15), Grant Hill (’18), Bobby Hurley (’10)
Yolanda Griffith, presented by Van Chancellor (’07)
Lauren Jackson, presented by Sheryl Swoopes (’16)
Clarence Jenkins, presented by Wayne Embry (’99)
Toni Kukoc, presented by Michael Jordan (’09), Jerry Reinsdorf (’16)
Pearl Moore, presented by Sylvia Hatchell (’13)
Paul Pierce, presented by Kevin Garnett (’20)
Bill Russell, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Julius Erving (’93), Spencer Haywood (’15), Alonzo Mourning (’14), Bill Walton (’93), Rick Welts (’18)
Ben Wallace, presented by Larry Brown (’02)
Chris Webber, presented by Isiah Thomas (’00)
Jay Wright, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Bill Cunningham (’86), Herb Magee (’11), George Raveling (’15)
