Michael Jordan was set to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday, a final honor for someone who’s already won everything else.
David Robinson, John Stockton, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and Rutgers University women’s coach C. Vivian Stringer will also be inducted. But the attention is largely on Jordan, the six-time NBA champion, five-time league MVP and 10-time scoring champ.
His entrance into the Hall is bringing unprecedented attention, forcing the ceremonies to be moved to Springfield’s Symphony Hall, with a capacity of about 2,600 — more than double what the Hall of Fame can hold.
Besides Jordan, those on hand will see Robinson, who helped San Antonio win two NBA titles and the US win two Olympic gold medals; Stockton, the NBA’s career leader in assists and steals who also won Olympic gold in 1992 and 1996; Sloan, Stockton’s longtime coach who has won more than 1,000 games in Utah; and Stringer, the first women’s coach to lead three schools to the US college semi-finals.
It would be an elite class even without Jordan. With him, it becomes perhaps the strongest. Springfield is buzzing.
The weekend events began late on Thursday, with the enshrinement yesterday followed by a ring ceremony today at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
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