FILE – Former San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili watches as his jersey is unveiled in the rafters of the AT&T Center during his retirement ceremony after the Spurs’ NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Thursday, March 28, 2019, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Former NBA stars Manu Ginobili and Marques Johnson, college coach Bob Huggins and former WNBA star Swin Cash highlight the 11 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2022.
The other finalists announced Friday are former NBA players Michael Cooper and Tim Hardaway, former NBA coach George Karl, NBA referee Hugh Evans, former WNBA player Lindsay Whalen, former college and current WNBA coach Marianne Stanley and former girls high school coach Leta Andrews.
The inductees will be announced April 2 at the Final Four in New Orleans. Enshrinement is slated for Sept. 9-10 in Springfield, Mass.
“It is a tremendous honor to be named a Finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame and we’re elated to recognize the achievements by these outstanding men and women who have left a lasting impact on the game of basketball,” said Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “A heartfelt congratulations goes out to the finalists and their families and we very much look forward to revealing the Class of 2022 at the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans this April.”
A finalist needs to receive 18 of a possible 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election to the Hall of Fame.
Ginobili was a four-time NBA champion for the San Antonio Spurs and led Argentina to the gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Congrats to @manuginobili on being named a #22HoopClass finalist!@Hoophall | #PorVida pic.twitter.com/9TNFF3qMFW
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) February 18, 2022
Johnson was a five-time All-Star with the Milwaukee Bucks and the national college player of the year at UCLA in 1977.
Huggins, currently the coach at West Virginia, has guided teams to 25 NCAA Tournament appearances, including Final Four berths in 1992 (Cincinnati) and 2010 (West Virginia).
Cash was a four-time WNBA All-Star, three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic goal medal winner (2004, 2012) for the United States.
Cooper was a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and a five-time All-Defensive First Team pick, including 1987 when he was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Hardaway played 13 NBA seasons and was a college star at UTEP and a member of the 2000 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team.
Karl ranks sixth in NBA history in victories (1,175), guided the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1996 NBA Finals and posted 12 seasons of 50 or more victories.
Evans was a referee from 1973-2001 and took part in 35 NBA Finals games and four All-Star Games.
Whalen was a five-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, and led the Minnesota Golden Gophers to the 2004 Final Four — she is now the school’s head coach.
Stanley is currently the coach of the Indiana Fever but was also a highly successful college coach who won a national title at Old Dominion.
Andrews coached in Texas from 1962-2014 and went 1,416-351 to compile the best record in high school history, male or female.
NBC network executive Dick Ebersol, New York Knicks television analyst Walt Frazier and basketball writer Mechelle Voepel were named recipients of the Curt Gowdy Media Award. Frazier is already in the Hall of Fame as a player.
Former Air Force coach and National Association of Basketball Coaches executive director Reggie Minton was named recipient of the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award.