SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — Jay Wright was in trouble three years into his tenure at Villanova, with speculation swirling that he would be fired. Ben Wallace was once undrafted and unknown. Chris Bosh’s playing career ended years before he planned. Chris Webber had been a snubbed finalist time and time again.
Wallace, Wright, Bosh and Webber were among the 16 names announced Sunday as this year’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement class, a group that also includes Paul Pierce, coaches Rick Adelman and Cotton Fitzsimmons, and WNBA stars Yolanda Griffith and Lauren Jackson.
The class even includes someone who has been a Hall of Famer for 46 years already: The 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell, enshrined in 1975 as a player, has been selected again as a coach.