It's official. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will headline the 2020 class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Officials announced the nine-person group on Saturday. The list also including WNBA great Tamika Catchings. Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, longtime Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton, according to the Associated Press.
Bryant led the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA Finals and won two NBA Finals MVP's. In 2008, Bryant won the NBA MVP. His induction as a first-ballot Hall of Famer was inevitable and was rumored at the time of his tragic death in January.
Duncan led the San Antonio Spurs to five NBA Finals as well during their overlapping dynasties with the Lakers. Garnett was a longtime members of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and a member of the Boston Celtics "big three" that defeated the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals.
Bryant, Duncan and Garnett were longtime expected to be first-ballot hall-of-famers. Several NBA analysts say this is one of the strongest HOF classes of all time.
