Basketball Hall of Fame: Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, Jerry West will be part of 2024 class, per reports

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Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups will headline the 2014 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Already announced as finalists, both have now reportedly made the cut. This means that Carter, who retired at 43 after the 2019-20 season, will soon officially be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Billups, who retired in 2014 after a 17-year career, has been eligible since 2018, but was never named a finalist until this year.

Jerry West was also elected into the Hall of Fame in this class, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. West will be inducted as a contributor, after being inducted as a player in 1979 and as a member of the United States’ 1960 Olympic team in 2010.

The official announcement will be made this Saturday in Phoenix at the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.

Carter made eight consecutive All-Star teams starting in 2000, the same year that he delivered a legendary performance in the slam dunk contest. Drafted No. 5 in 1998, the high-flying wing won Rookie of the Year and made two All-NBA teams as a member of the Toronto Raptors. After a messy exit (that has since been smoothed over), he starred for the New Jersey Nets from 2004 until a 2009 trade to the Orlando Magic. In the second half of his 22-year career — an all-time record — he reinvented himself as a role player. He had a brief stint in Phoenix, then spent three years in Dallas, three in Memphis, one in Sacramento and two in Atlanta. No one else in NBA history has played in four different decades.

In his third season, his statistical peak, Carter averaged 27.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks. He was simultaneously the best dunker the NBA had ever seen, the most exciting player in the league and a 40.8% 3-point shooter. In 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, he was the All-Star Game’s leading vote-getter.

Carter won a gold medal representing the United States at the 2000 Olympics. That’s when he jumped over 7-foot-2 French center Frederic Weis and threw down one of the most memorable dunks in…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/basketball-hall-of-fame-vince-carter-chauncey-billups-jerry-west-will-be-part-of-2024-class-per-reports/

Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2024-04-06 14:01:18

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