Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen Headline 2018 Naismith Hall of Fame Class
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced its 2018 class of inductees, headlined by Jason Kidd, Ray Allen and Steve Nash.
A total of 13 people comprise the list of inductees. Joining Kidd, Allen and Nash will be Grant Hill, Maurice Cheeks, Tina Thompson, Charles "Lefty" Driesell, Charlie Scott, Rick Welts, Rod Thorn, Dino Radja, Katie Smith and Ora Mae Washington.
Nash is one of 11 players in NBA history to be named MVP in back-to-back years. He was named to the All-Star team eight times in 18 seasons and led the league in assists five times in a seven-year span from 2005 to 2011.
Kidd was an All-Star in 10 of his 19 seasons and was named to the All-NBA First Team five times. His 12,091 career assists ranks second in league history, behind John Stockton (15,806).
Hill won back-to-back national titles at Duke in 1991 and 1992. He shared the 1994-95 NBA Rookie of the Year award with Kidd and was a seven-time All-Star.
"I am excited, thrilled and grateful to be here with people I respect and admire," Hill said about his induction, per the Basketball Hall of Fame on Twitter.
One of the greatest shooters in history, Allen is the NBA's all-time leader with 2,973 three-pointers made. He won a NBA titles with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and the Miami Heat in 2013.
Cheeks spent 11 of his 15 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, winning an NBA title in 1983 and being named to the All-Defensive First Team in four straight seasons from 1983 to 1986.
Driesell spent 41 years as a coach at the collegiate level, compiling a 786-394 career record. He led four different programs to the NCAA tournament. His greatest success came at the University of Maryland from 1969 to 1986 when he won a then-school record 348 games until Gary Williams passed him in 2006.
Thompson is one of the key figures in WNBA history after being the league's first-ever draft pick by the Houston Comets in 1997. She was named one of the WNBA's 20 greatest players of all time in 2016.
Smith, who is the head coach of the New York Liberty, won three Olympic gold medals playing for Team USA and was named to the WNBA All-Decade team in 2006. She won two WNBA titles with the Detroit Shock in 2006 and 2008.
Scott was a 10-year veteran of the ABA and NBA from 1970 through '80, a stretch in which he made five All-Star teams. His 34.6 points per game with the Virginia Squires in 1971-72 ranked first among all ABA players.
Welts is the president of the Golden State Warriors and won two NBA titles with the organization in 2015 and 2017. He also served in the NBA league office for 17 years from 1982 to 1999.
Thorn spent eight seasons as a player in the NBA with four different teams from 1963 to 1971. He's since gone on to a successful executive career, including being general manager of the Chicago Bulls when Michael Jordan was drafted in 1984.
Radja is one of the greatest international players in basketball history, winning two titles in the Croatian League, EuroLeague and Greek League.
Washington will be a posthumous inductee. She was born in 1898 and won 11 straight Women’s Colored Basketball titles with the Tribune Girls.
This year's 13-person class will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at a Sept. 7 ceremony.
