Michael Jordan headlines FIBA Hall of Fame class
NBA legend Michael Jordan is among nine who will be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.
Michael Jordan has long been considered the world’s best basketball player of all-time. Now, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer is ready to be honored as such on the world stage.
The Fédération Internationale de Basketball, or FIBA for short, announced on Friday that Jordan will headline a class of nine new members to the organizations Hall of Fame. Joining Jordan in the 2015 class will be fellow players Anne Donovan (USA), Ruperto Herrera Tabio (Cuba), Sarunas Marciulionis (Lithuania), Antoine Rigaudeau (France), and Vladimir Tkachenko (Russia/Ukraine), along with coach Jan Stirling of Australia, official Robert Blanchard of France, and contributor Noah Klieger of Israel.
Jordan appeared in two different Olympic Games, first in the summer of 1984 and then as the much-heralded “Dream Team”, when professional players made their first appearances in the 1992 Barcelona games. Each time, the USA team brought home the gold medal for Men’s Basketball. In 16 games, Jordan averaged 16 points, 3.4 assists, and 2.7 rebounds.
Of course, Jordan’s exploits are far greater on this side of the pond, where he rose to become the greatest player in NBA history. A six-time NBA champion, Jordan scored 32,292 points over the course of a 15-year career playing for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. His 30.12 points per game remains the NBA record for a career and his five NBA MVP awards are second behind only Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Of note among the other nominees, fellow American Anne Donovan is entering the FIBA Hall of Fame as a player, but her contributions on the international stage far exceed her playing days. The current coach of the Connecticut Sun, Donovan was two-time Gold Medal winner as a player for Team USA and has won one each as both an assistant coach and a head coach for the United States. She was enshrined in Springfield at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.
The FIBA Hall of Fame class of 2015 will be honored on Sunday September 20th in Lille, France.
(h/t – Sports Illustrated)
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