AP Photo/Eric Gay
The Basketball Hall of Fame announced its incoming class for 2022, with San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili and three-time WNBA champion Swin Cash among the notable honorees.
Tim Hardaway, Lindsay Whalen, Bob Huggins and George Karl were also part of the 13-member group.
Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022
- Swin Cash
- Larry Costello
- Hugh Evans
- Manu Ginobili
- Tim Hardaway
- Del Harris
- Lou Hudson
- Bob Huggins
- George Karl
- Radivoj Korac
- Theresa Shank-Grentz
- Marianne Stanley
- Lindsay Whalen
Ginobili spent his entire 16-year career with the Spurs. A two-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion, he made a strong case to be considered the greatest sixth man in NBA history.
The 44-year-old averaged 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists. More than the raw numbers, he played with a level of artistry that gained him numerous admirers.
Beyond his success in the NBA, Ginobili won a EuroLeague title and EuroLeague Finals MVP in 2001 and helped Argentina win gold in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Cash won two national championships at Connecticut before making the jump to the WNBA, getting selected second overall behind UConn teammate Sue Bird in the 2002 draft.
The Detroit Shock went 9-23 in Cash’s rookie year before improving to 25-9 and reaching the WNBA Finals. In the decisive Game 3 against the Los Angeles Sparks, Cash played all 40 minutes and nearly put up a triple-double (13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists) as the Shock won 83-79.
Before Stephen Curry arrived, Hardaway was probably the first image that came to mind when thinking of a dynamic Golden State Warriors point guard.
Over six seasons with the Warriors, Hardaway was a three-time All-Star and averaged 19.8 points and 9.3 assists per game. Across the 1980s and into the 2000s, Golden State fans didn’t have a lot to cheer about. The “Run TMC” era was an exception.
Hardaway went on to make two more All-Star teams with the Miami Heat. His 7,095 NBA assists are 18th all-time.
On the coaching side, Karl and Huggins’ Hall of Fame nods are well earned.
Karl’s 1,175 wins are sixth all-time. In his 27 years as an NBA head coach, his teams reached the playoffs on 22 occasions. The apex came in 1995-96, when the Seattle SuperSonics claimed a Western Conference title.
Karl also guided the Milwaukee Bucks (2000-01) and Denver Nuggets (2008-09) to the conference finals.
A national championship has so far eluded Huggins in his legendary career, but his 844 victories, the eighth-highest in men’s Division I basketball, speak for themselves. Another testament to his consistency is that in his 37 seasons as a coach, his teams have finished with a losing record only four times.
Huggins has made one Final Four apiece with Cincinnati (1992) and West Virginia (2010). For the Bearcats, Kenyon Martin’s broken leg in 2000 probably remains a sore point because it spoiled what was arguably the program’s best shot at a title under Huggins.
Huggins and his fellow inductees will be enshrined in September.
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