As part of the impending NBA All-Star festivities, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has announced their Finalists for the Class of 2023.

They are:

Jennifer Azzi:  The former Stanford Point Guard led the Cardinal to a National Championship in 1990, winning the Final Four MVP, and the Naismith Award during the regular season.  Internationally, she won Gold for the United States in the 1996 Olympics and 1990 and 1998 FIBA World Championships.  

Gene Bess:  Bess had a career record of 1,300-416 making him the winningest coach in NCAA history.  Spending his entire career at Three Rivers Community College, he is a two-time Junior College Champion as a Coach.

Gary Blair:  Blair coached for 37 years, most notably leading the women’s program at Texas A&M to a National Championship in 2011.  He had a lifetime record of 852-346.

Pau Gasol:  The Spanish Center went to six All-Star Games and helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to two NBA Championships.  Gasol also was a two-time Second Team and two-time Third Team All-NBA player and while representing Spain, he is a two-time Olympic Silver Medalist, won an Olympic Bronze, and also led his country to Gold in the 2006 World Cup.

Becky Hammon:  Hammon was a six-time WNBA Selection and was named to the NBA 15^th, 20^th, and 25^th Anniversary Team.  She won Bronze representing Russia in the 2008 Olympics and was the first female Assistant Coach in the NBA (San Antonio).  Hammon won the WNBA Championship in her first year as a Head Coach with Las Vegas.

David Hixon:  Hixon was Amherst College’s Men Head Coach for 42 years, winning two Division III National Championships and two Division III Head Coach of the Year Awards.

Gene Keady:  Keady was the Head Coach for Purdue for 25 years and led the Boilermakers to six Big Ten Regular Season Titles.  He is a seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Dirk Nowitzki:  A Finalist on his first year on the ballot, Nowitzki was the centerpiece for the Dallas Mavericks for over a decade, and took them to their first NBA Championship in 2011.  The 2007 MVP was a four-time First Team, five-time Second Team and three-time Third Team All-NBA recipient and also was named to the NBA 75^th Anniversary Team.

Tony Parker:   Parker won four NBA Championships with the San Antonio Spurs and was a six-time All-Star.  The 2007 NBA Finals MVP was a three-time Second Team All-NBA player and would represent France in many tournaments, most notably winning EuroBasket Gold in 2013.

Gregg Popovich:  Popovich is still active, and is already a legend in basketball coaching.  “Pop” led the Spurs to five NBA Championships.  He is also a three-time NBA Coach of the Year and the was the Head Coach for the U.S. Team that won Gold at the 2020 Olympics.

Dwyane Wade:  Wade was the long-time Point Guard with the Miami Heat where he won three NBA Championships.  The first ballot nominee went to 13 All-Star Games, and was an eight-time All-NBA Selection (two First Team, three Second Team and three Third Team).  He is also a 75^th Anniversary Team.

Marian Washington:  Washington was the Women’s Head Coach for Kansas from 1979 to 2003 and had a record of 560-363.

The Class of 2023 will be announced during this year’s Final Four

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate those who made it to this stage.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that the Kansas City Royals have announced that Ned Yost has been elected to their Hall of Fame.

Yost becomes the 27^th inductee to the Royals Hall and it will become official on September 2, during their home game against Boston.

Previously managing the Milwaukee Brewers, Yost took over as the Royals skipper in 2010, and four years later, would helm Kansas City to the Pennant.  The next year the Royals won it all, and he is the only Royal Manager to have won consecutive pennants.  Yost is also the team’s all-time leader in wins (746).

Yost retired in 2019, and was eligible for the franchise Hall of Fame for the first time this year.  He received 88.2% of the vote, more than the 75% required.

To be eligible for the Royals Hall of Fame alumni must have been active with the ballclub for at least three seasons and accumulated a minimum of 1,500 plate appearances or 300 innings pitched, or managed the equivalent of three full seasons.  They also have to be retired for three years.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Ned Yost for this impending honor.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that the Seattle Mariners have announced that Phil Esposito has been chosen for the inaugural Tampa Bay Lightning Hall of Fame class.

Esposito will be honored on alumni weekend (March 16-18), and will be part of the first class with already named inductees, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier.  

"As good as the Lightning are now, expanding the NHL into Florida was a daunting task as big-time hockey had never been tried in this warm weather state.  Esposito was tasked as the team’s first General Manager, and he used his creativity to generate as much interest in the product as he could.  The Lightning only reached the playoffs once under Esposito, but he laid the groundwork for the team to make it.  He would later serve as their radio color analyst.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Phil Esposito for this impending honor.

The son of star Pitcher (and bigger star Coach) Mel Stottlemyre, Todd Stottlemyre was Toronto’s Frist Round Pick (3^rdOverall) in the 1985 Draft.  The righthander needed three years to make the Jays roster.

With his pedigree, Stottlemyre was expected to be a star, but that did not happen, though he was a solid late-rotation starter for years.  Stottlemyre helped Toronto win the 1992 and 1993 World Series, with the UNLV product winning at least 11 Games annually from 1990 to 1993, with a peak of 15 Wins in 1991.  That was the only year as a Blue Jay that Stottlemyre had an ERA under four (3.78).

Stottlemyre signed with Oakland after the 1994 Season, and with the Jays, he had a record of 69-70, 662 Strikeouts, and a 4.39 ERA.