NBA legends Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki have been confirmed as three members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2023.
On Saturday, it was announced Tony Parker, Wade, Gasol and Nowitzki would join Becky Hammon and Gregg Popovich as the headliners for the 2023 class set to be enshrined on 11 and 12 August at ceremonies in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano, the 1976 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team and former Purdue coach Gene Keady, former Texas A&M women’s coach Gary Blair, Division III Amherst coach David Hixon, and Gene Bess – winner of 1,300 games as a junior college coach at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri - were also confirmed as part of the class.
Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo told the new members about the happy news earlier this week before they took their first steps as basketball royalty on Saturday. On ESPN’s broadcast of the announcement in Houston, Miami Heat legend and three-time NBA champion Wade said: “This is basketball heaven.”
