Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett are going to the Hall of Fame
Kobe Bryant has been immortalized.
Mamba Forever ??
Kobe Bryant is inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/Y92gwZmlJI
— The Association on FOX (@TheAssociation) April 4, 2020
On Saturday, it was announced that the late Kobe Bryant, along with Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2020.
Congratulations to the 2020 Hall of Fame class ?? pic.twitter.com/Y9B9KyWeUF
— The Association on FOX (@TheAssociation) April 4, 2020
Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, and oldest daughter, Natalia, spoke on Kobe’s induction on Saturday morning.
“We’re incredibly proud of him.”
Vanessa and Natalia Bryant joined Rece Davis after Kobe’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. pic.twitter.com/HX31pyvgPe
— ESPN (@espn) April 4, 2020
Also on Saturday morning, FOX Sports’ Chris Broussard ranked his top 5 Hall of Fame classes.
“The class of 2020 [is] the greatest Hall of Fame class in basketball history … This class has a top 5 player at each of their positions, and with Kobe and Tim Duncan, you’re talking about top 2 players at each of their positions.”
“The class of 2020: the greatest Hall of Fame class in basketball history“@Chris_Broussard congratulates this year’s group and gives his top 5 NBA Hall of Fame classes of all time ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/53aeKuA2pl
— The Association on FOX (@TheAssociation) April 4, 2020
Bryant, Garnett and Duncan are each NBA legends. All three played in the same era in the same conference, waging multiple memorable wars against each other, and Bryant and Duncan are two of the greatest champions in NBA history.
In fact, from 1999 to 2010, either Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers or Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals 11 times: the Lakers in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and the Spurs in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
The Dallas Mavericks were the only other team to break through, making it to and winning the Finals in 2006.
Furthermore, of those 11 combined championship appearances for the Lakers and Spurs, Bryant emerged with five titles and Duncan emerged with four, before he moved on to win one more ring in 2014.
Kevin Garnett didn’t have the championship success of Bryant or Duncan, but he did help carry the Boston Celtics to a title over Bryant’s Lakers in 2008.
Aside from championships and playoff rivalries – Kobe is 18-12 against Duncan in the playoffs and 14-11 against Garnett, while Duncan is 6-2 against Garnett in the playoffs – the hardware collected between these three could rival any Hall of Fame class in basketball history.
Between them are the 11 championships, but also 4 NBA MVPs, 5 NBA Finals MVPs, 48 All-Star Game selections, 6 All-Star Game MVPs, 25 All-NBA First Team selections, 26 NBA All-Defensive First Team selections, 2 NBA scoring titles, 4 NBA rebounding titles, a Rookie of the Year award, an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and a Slam Dunk Contest title.
On Jan. 26, Bryant tragically died in a helicopter accident in Calabasas, CA, but he will still get to add Hall of Famer to his legendary resume come August, alongside two of his fiercest rivals and friends.
