GLENDALE, Ariz. — Vince Carter wowed the basketball world along with his high-flying dunks for greater than twenty years. Chauncey Billups was a clutch guard and Finals MVP for the Detroit Pistons.
Two icons from the 2000s period of basketball are headed to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame.
Tears welled in Carter’s eyes a number of instances Saturday as he mentioned what the distinction means to him.
“I feel that is the place the emotion comes from,” Carter mentioned. “I’ve such an important appreciation for what that is and who’s within the Corridor of Fame. I get an opportunity to be part of that. Say what you need, consider what you could, however there have been some days I by no means thought I used to be on this degree.”
Then he grinned.
“However they allowed me in, so I’ll take it.”
The 13-member class introduced Saturday consists of former Lakers, Grizzlies and Warriors government Jerry West, who was already inducted as a participant and as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic group. Additionally within the class: gamers Seimone Augustus, Michael Cooper, Walter Davis, Dick Barnett and Michele Timms; coaches Charles Smith, Harley Redin and Bo Ryan; broadcaster/coach Doug Collins; and proprietor Herb Simon.
The 2024 class will probably be enshrined into the Corridor of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, in August.
“It is mind-blowing for me,” Carter mentioned. “I loved taking part in the sport of basketball day-after-day. I am simply overjoyed.”
Carter, 47, was an eight-time All-Star and the NBA Rookie of the Yr in 1999 with the Toronto Raptors. He had the longest profession in NBA historical past, taking part in 22 seasons for the Raptors, Nets, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Hawks, Magic, Kings and Suns, and completed with 25,728 profession factors, good for twenty first in league historical past.
He performed in school at North Carolina underneath coach Dean Smith.
The 6-foot-6 guard’s longevity within the sport was legendary, and he was a helpful participant deep into his 40s, hanging with gamers lower than half his age. He averaged 5 factors over 60 video games at age 43 with the Hawks in his closing season.
Billups, 47, was a five-time All-Star and received an NBA championship with the Pistons in 2004. He was the MVP of the Finals that season and is now the coach of the Portland Path Blazers.
He was the third total choose within the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics, however his professional profession was a bit gradual to develop. He ultimately discovered a house in Detroit, making his first All-Star group in his ninth season.
A part of a balanced Pistons group that included Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace, Billups averaged 21.0 factors and 5.2 assists per sport within the 2004 Finals, once they beat the Lakers in 5 video games for the title.
Ben Wallace was inducted into the Corridor in 2021. Now Billups joins him.
“All of us got here, watched [Ben’s] induction, and all of us felt like we have been already in as a result of he was in,” Billups mentioned. “That is how we performed. That is who we have been. I am simply the following one up.”
This time round, 85-year-old West was inducted as a contributor. The 14-time All-Star was inducted as a participant in 1980. He spent greater than 20 years as an government for the Lakers — serving to the franchise win eight championships from 1980 to 2002 — and was the overall supervisor for the Memphis Grizzlies and an government with the Golden State Warriors.
Augustus, 39, was a four-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx. The 6-0 guard performed in school at LSU, serving to this system to 3 Remaining Fours. She is thirteenth in WNBA historical past with 6,005 profession factors.
Cooper, 67, was a five-time NBA champion for the Showtime Lakers within the Nineteen Eighties. Teammates with stars comparable to Magic Johnson and James Worthy, Cooper did his greatest work on the defensive finish of the court docket, making eight All-Defensive groups.
Davis, who died in 2023, is the main profession scorer in Phoenix Suns historical past with 15,666 factors. He was the 1978 Rookie of the Yr and made six All-Star groups.
