The Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2016 will be enshrined in Springfield this evening. A number of familiar names from the past few decades will be honored.
Shaquille O’Neal, better known as simply “Shaq,” headlines the group of ten going into the hall. The seven-footer spent 19 years in the NBA, was part of four championship teams and is seventh on the all-time scoring list.
Joining O’Neal is Allen Iverson, who was an eleven-time all-star and averaged more than 26 points a game in his fourteen year career. Among the other honorees is big man Yao Ming, who starred overseas in his native China as well as with the Houston Rockets, and three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player Sheryl Swoops.
Going in with O’Neal, Iverson, Ming and Swoops are former NBA referee Darell Garretson, current Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, and John McClendon, the first African-American to coach in a professional league.
Rounding out the 2016 class: Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Cumberland Posey, a star from the early 1900’s who is also a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Zelmo Beaty, who averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds a game with Prairie View A&M before going on to a standout professional career in the 1960’s.