Nine days before the 2024–25 NBA season tips off, the league will honor its past as 13 basketball legends get inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The 2024 Hall of Fame ceremony is on Sunday from Springfield, Massachussets, and the 13-member class will push the total number of Hall of Famers to 473. Five of the 13 are former NBA greats, with here’s a look at those who will get enshrined in the hallowed halls.
A five-time All-Star, Billups was one of the most clutch players of his era, which earned him the nickname of “Mr. Big Shot.” His career wasn’t defined by statistics but rather intangibles, like leadership, and he led the 2004 Detroit Pistons to the NBA championship, in addition to being named Finals MVP. Billups, however, still put him impressive numbers as his 89.4 free throw percentage is seventh-best in NBA history, while he ranked sixth in postseason three-pointers at the time of his retirement in 2014. With Billups’ induction, Cedric Maxwell remains the only NBA Finals MVP to not be inducted into the Hall of Fame, among those eligible.
No one in NBA history has played more seasons than Carter’s 22, and he evolved from high-flying All-Star to a vital bench player throughout those two-plus decades. Carter suited up for eight teams but is best known for his time with the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets, as all eight of his All-Star appearances came with those franchises. Carter played in 1,541 games, the third-most in league history, and he’s the only player to play in four different decades. Always one of the most-liked players in the NBA, Carter won both the Teammate of the Year award (2016) and the Sportsmanship award (2020).
A vital part of the Showtime Lakers, Cooper spent his entire 12-year career in Los Angeles, where he won five championships. He operated as both a starter and a reserve, as both a point guard and shooting guard, but what was always consistent was his defense. Cooper is one of three guards in NBA history to be named to at least eight All-Defensive teams and win the Defensive Player of the Year award, alongside Michael Jordan and Gary Payton. Cooper’s induction shows that you can achieve basketball’s highest honor without being a scorer as his 8.9 points per game career average is third-lowest amongst modern era Hall of Fame players, trailing only Ben Wallace (5.7) and Dennis Rodman (7.3).
Davis spent 11 of his 15 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, where he remains the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, 36 years after his last game with the team. He won Rookie of the Year in 1977–78, as his rookie average of 24.2 PPG has only been topped by Jordan’s 28.2 (1984–85) and David Robinson’s 24.3 (1989–90) over the last 40 seasons. Davis made six All-Star Games, was a two-time All-NBA selection, and also won an Olympic gold medal in 1976.
Unlike the previous four players, Barnett is going into the hall via the men’s veteran committee, as since his career ended in 1974, he had to go that route. But 50 years after his final game, Barnett is going into Springfield thanks to a basketball career in which he won at every stop. He won three NAIA championships in college, two NBA championships with the New York Knicks, and even claimed a title in his lone year in the American Basketball League. This will be Barnett’s first individual induction into the Hall of Fame, but his second overall as he went in as part of the 1957–59 Tennessee State basketball team that was the first to win three national champions in a row in any college division.
The other eight inductees range from former coaches such as Bo Ryan, who won more than 700 games in college to Charles Smith, who is Louisiana’s all-time winningest high school coach, to Harley Redin, who won six AAU national titles. Two WNBA legends got the call from the hall in eight-time WNBA All-Star, Seimone Augustus, and five-time WNBL (Australia) champion Michele Timms. Finally, the 2024 Basketball Hall of Fame class is completed by three contributors, who have spent the past few decades shaping what the game is basketball is today.
Herb Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, will go in. He’s the longest-tenured owner in NBA history, having bought the Pacers in 1983. Also elected in is Doug Collins, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1973 NBA Draft and has spent the last 51 years affiliated with the sport as a player, coach, broadcaster or adviser. Finally, there’s “The Logo” Jerry West, who will get inducted for the third time. West previously went in as both a player, and as a member of the 1960 Olympic team, and now he’ll go in for his executive career, in which he won eight NBA championships with the Lakers (six) and Golden State Warriors (two).
