Hall Pass: Basketball Hall of Fame welcomes six Olympians as members

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is opening its doors to six new members, including three NBA international legends.

Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, Tony Parker of France and Pau Gasol of Spain will join Dwyane Wade, Gregg Popovich and Becky Hammon in the Hall.

All six are Olympians with Popovich leading Team USA to the gold medal in Tokyo 2020. He was an assistant coach in Athens 2004. That team won a bronze medal after beating Gasol’s Spanish team in the quarterfinals.

“This class not only represents all levels of basketball, it represents truly, in every regard, what the game is all about and where it is,” said Hall of Fame Chairman Jerry Colangelo to The Associated Press.

“The countries represented, Germany, Spain, France and the U.S., shows how far the game has come and where it is today. I think maybe it’s the most unique class.”

The credentials of the inductees are indisputable.

The four NBA players, Nowitzki, Parker, Gasol and Wade combined for over 95,000 points, 39 All-Star appearances and 10 championships.

Popovich, the long time coach of the San Antonio Spurs won five NBA titles, four of them with Parker and the most games of any NBA coach in history.

Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star and coached the Las Vegas Aces to their first WNBA championship last year.

Nowitzki spent his entire 21-year NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks, won the 2011 NBA championship and is the sixth leading scorer in NBA history. He is arguably the greatest European basketball player of all time.

If it’s not Nowitzki, an argument could be made for Gasol. He won two NBA championships with the late Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and has two Olympic silver medals as well as one bronze.

The soon-to-be Hall of Famers will receive their rings and jackets on August 11 in Uncasville, Conn. with the ceremony and speeches scheduled for the following day in Springfield, Mass.