Kobe Bryant’s official induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, has been postponed until spring 2021, the NBA announced on Sunday, Nov. 29.
ESPN reports that the NBA originally planned to hold the ceremony in August 2020, but it has been delayed until May 2021, due to the pandemic.
Bryant, 41, died when the helicopter he was traveling in with his daughter, Gianna Bryant, and seven other people crashed in the mountains north of Los Angeles.
The Black Mamba will be inducted posthumously with two other inductees — Boston Celtics great Kevin Garnett and five-time NBA champion Tim Duncan. Together, the trio of NBA stars boasted 48 NBA All-Star games and 11 NBA championships.
Tamika Catchings, a legend from the University of Tennessee who went on to win titles for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, also will be inducted. All four are entering the Hall of Fame on their first year of eligibility.
Others who had to wait years before being told in April 2020 that they would be inducted include Rudy Tomjanovich, who won both of his titles with Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets in the mid-1990s; iconic Baylor University women’s coach Kim Mulkey; Bentley University’s women’s coach Barbara Stevens, whose had more than 1,000 wins; and former Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton.
