NEW YORK: Late basketball star Kobe Bryant has been inducted into the NBA's Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the nine honorees in the Class of 2020 presented by Fifty-Five South Ventures.
The Class of 2020 will be enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts, on August 29, 2020.
Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among the nine people killed when a helicopter they were travelling in crashed amid foggy conditions and burst into flames in the hills above Calabasas.
The basketball legend had won five NBA championships in his 20-year-long career while playing for Los Angeles Lakers.
Apart from Kobe Bryant, 15-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA Finals MVP Tim Duncan, 15-time NBA All-Star and nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection Kevin Garnett, four-time National Coach of the Year Eddie Sutton, two-time NBA Champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, 10-time WNBA All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings, three-time NCAA National Championship Coach of Baylor Kim Mulkey, five-time Division II National Coach of the Year Barbara Stevens and longtime FIBA executive Patrick Baumann have all been inducted into the Class of 2020.
"The Class of 2020 is undoubtedly one of the most historic of all time and the talent and social influence of these nine honorees is beyond measure. In 2020, the basketball community has suffered the unimaginable loss of iconic figures Commissioner David Stern and Kobe Bryant, as well as the game itself due to COVID-19," John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame said in an official statement.
"We have also banded together like never before in appreciation of the game and those who have made it the uniting force it is today. Today we thank the Class of 2020 for all they have done for the game of basketball and we look forward to celebrating them at Enshrinement in August," he added.