Michael Jordan led two other basketball legends and two coaches into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Jordan is joined by his Dream Team teammates David Robinson and John Stockton. Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer are also part of the announced class. Induction is September 10-12 in Springfield, Massachusetts, home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
"Air Jordan" finished a 15-year career with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards with 32,292 points -- the third-highest total in league history, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. His final career average of 30.12 goes down as the best, just ahead of Wilt Chamberlain's 30.07. Jordan was a five-time NBA MVP, won six championships with the Bulls and another in college with North Carolina. Jordan retired twice during his career. He first came back to the Bulls in 1994 and won three more championships before retiring again in 1998, then had an ill-fated two-year stint with the Washington Wizards before calling it quits for good in 2003.
David Robinson, who earned the nickname "The Admiral" from his college career at Navy, joined Stockton and Jordan as members of the NBA's 50th anniversary team. Robinson's 14-year career included two NBA titles, an MVP season, a rookie of the year award, 10 All-Star selections, a scoring title and two Olympic gold medals. Robinson retired after winning a second title with the Spurs in 2003. "If I had to pick one night in my career, it would probably be walking off the court as a champion and knowing that was going to be my last memory of basketball," Robinson said.
John Stockton spent his entire career with Utah and finished with 19,711 points, and holds NBA records 15,806 assists and 3,265 steals. He also holds NBA records for most assists in a season (1,164 in 1990-91) and highest assist average in a season (14.5 in 1989-90). Utah took Stockton in the first round of the 1984 draft, using the No. 16 pick on a relatively unknown player from Gonzaga who became one of the top point guards. "Growing up I never thought about the Hall of Fame," Stockton said. "All I wanted was a chance to go to college."
Jerry Sloan is the longest tenured head coach in major league sports with a single franchise. Sloan is the only NBA coach to win more than 1,000 games with a single team and has the Jazz currently in seventh place in the Western Conference. "I've been very lucky to have such great players, especially John, who is very deserving of this honor," Sloan said. "I've also been fortunate to be with such a tremendous organization for the past 20-plus years…”
C. Vivian Stringer has led three separate schools to the Final Four in her 38-year career and has an 825-280 mark spanning four decades. She trails only Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt on the career wins list, and guided Rutgers to its fifth straight regional semifinals trip this season. "My knees are weak, and to think I would be standing here with these great, great, men of basketball," Stringer said. "It's not ever about me. It's about the players who all make it happen."
Stringer got her start in 1973 at Cheyney State (HBCU School), where Hall of Famer John Chaney was the men's coach, and took the school to the Final Four in 1982. She also took Iowa to the Final Four, the only women's coach to take three teams there.
"I am very happy and elated that she was selected to the Hall of Fame this year," Chaney said. "I would think not many, if any, Division II school has its former men's and women's coaches in the Hall of Fame."
In a related event, on the same day it was announced his father had been voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Marcus Jordan, a 6-foot-3 guard, announced he had chosen University of Central Florida over schools including Toledo, Iowa and Davidson. He led Whitney Young High School of Chicago to the state 4A title last month, leading his team in scoring in the semifinals and the state final.
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