San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (C), shown June 15, 2014, captured four NBA championships in San Antonio alongside Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. File Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/UPI |
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Feb. 18 (UPI) -- San Antonio Spurs great Manu Ginobili and WNBA legend Swin Cash headlined the 11 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2022 on Friday.
The other nine finalists were: former Los Angeles Lakers star Michael Cooper; former Milwaukee Bucks forward Marques Johnson; former WNBA star Lindsay Whalen; former NBA referee Hugh Evans; longtime college coach Bob Huggins; longtime NBA coach George Karl; women's college and WNBA coach Marianne Stanley; five-time All-Star guard Tim Hardaway; and Texas girls' high school basketball coach Leta Andrews.
Ginobili -- one of just two players, along with Hall of Famer Bill Bradley, to capture a Euroleague championship, NBA title and a gold medal -- was one of the faces of the Spurs' dynasty. He teamed up with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to win four NBA championships in San Antonio.
In addition to his NBA success, Ginobili won Olympic gold with Argentina in 2004 and a bronze medal in 2008.
Cash, meanwhile, won three WNBA titles, two NCAA championships and two Olympic gold medals in her career. The four-time All-Star selection was named one of the 20 greatest WNBA players ever in 2016.
Whalen captured four WNBA championships during her time with the Minnesota Lynx. She made five All-Star teams and was a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Cooper served as one of the defensive anchors for the Lakers during the 1980s, winning five NBA titles while earning five All-Defensive Team nods. He was the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 1987.
Johnson was a five-time All-Star with the Bucks, and he won a national championship during his college career at UCLA. Evans, an NBA referee for nearly three decades, officiated more than 2,200 career games.
Hardaway also was a five-time All-Star selection over his 13 NBA seasons. Karl has the sixth-most wins (1,175) of any NBA head coach.
Huggins is one of just six Division I coaches to win at least 900 games. He reached the Final Four in 1992 and 2010.
Stanley, who currently serves as head coach of the WNBA's Indiana Fever, captured a college national title at Old Dominion in 1985. Andrews spent 51 years coaching girls' high school basketball teams in Texas, amassing 1,416 victories -- the most of any high school coach.
The Hall of Fame's Class of 2022 will officially be revealed April 2 in New Orleans during the Final Four. The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 10 in Springfield, Mass.
