NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Five-time All-Star Reggie Miller and longtime coach Don Nelson are among a dozen players, coaches and teams that will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The class of 2012 was announced Monday in New Orleans, the site of the Final Four.
Also elected were two-time Olympic gold medalist Katrina McClain, three-time college player of the year Ralph Sampson, four-time NBA champion Jamaal Wilkes, longtime referee Hank Nichols, and the All-American Red Heads, the female version of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Five members of the class had already been announced: Nike co-founder Phil Knight, ABA star Mel Daniels, seven-time NBA All-Star Chet Walker, Olympian Don Barksdale and Lydija Alexeeva, who led the Soviet Union to two Olympic gold medals.
The class will be inducted Sept. 7 at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
Commentary: Although Reggie Miller was the main headliner in this years hall of fame class, I'm personally happy to see former Lakers, Warriors player Jamaal Wilkes finally get inducted into the hall of fame. During my high school days in Hawaii during the 1980's, Jamaal Wilkes was one of my favorite players to watch play the game of basketball. Despite the fact that both he and I have the same name, mine is spelled differently. Many former classmates bestowed the nickname "Silk" upon me which I thought was quite an honor. My shooting style was similar to Jamaal's and it worked very well for me each time I played a game of basketball. Coaches tried getting me to change my shooting style, because mine was so unorthodox, however, it worked very well for me and I wasn't about to change it. Getting into the hall of fame is quite an honor for any former player or coach as congratulations go out to all those who received induction today.
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