NC State’s Valvano among group selected into Hall of Fame, joins Popovich, Nowitzki and others

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Tony Parker and Pau Gasol played for him. Becky Hammon coached alongside him. Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade waged battles against him.

He is Gregg Popovich. And he, finally, is a Hall of Famer.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame made it official Saturday, with three of the NBA’s all-time international greats — Nowitzki, Parker and Gasol — joining Wade, Hammon and Popovich as the headliners of the 2023 class that will be enshrined on Aug. 11 and 12 at ceremonies in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Also getting the Hall’s call: the 1976 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team; former Purdue coach Gene Keady, a seven-time Big Ten coach of the year; former Texas A&M women’s coach Gary Blair, who took two teams to the Final Four; longtime coach at Division III Amherst and two-time national champion David Hixon; and Gene Bess — who won 1,300 games as a junior college coach at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

The late Jim Valvano, who as a coach who led N.C. State to the 1983 NCAA title, was selected as a contributor — also taking into account his work as a broadcaster and an outspoken advocate for cancer research and the V Foundation.

Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo told the new members or their families about the happy news earlier this week. Most of them joined Colangelo and other Hall of Famers on Friday for a welcome dinner of sorts, then on Saturday took their first public bows as basketball royalty.

The four NBA players — Nowitzki, Parker, Gasol and Wade — combined for 95,092 points, 39 All-Star appearances and 10 NBA championships. Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star and is coach of the reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

The longstanding belief was that Popovich wanted certain people in the Hall before he would allow himself to be under consideration. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili had to go in first, and Popovich also lobbied for Houston two-time champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich. Parker going in with Popovich seems fitting, and Popovich has long raved about Hammon’s ability.

“In all honesty, I always felt the Hall of Fame is like for Red Holzman, Red Auerbach and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. ... I’ve never felt like I really belonged, to be honest with you,” Popovich said. “I’m not trying to be ‘Mr. Humble’ or anything. I’m a Division III guy. I’m not a Hall of Fame guy.”

Wade won three titles with Miami. At the arena where the Heat play, they’ve retired the numbers of five former players — Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Chris Bosh and Wade. And now all five of them are linked by Hall of Fame membership as well.

Like Parker, Nowitzki and Gasol — and Popovich, for that matter — Wade got in on his first ballot.

The class will get its jackets and Hall of Fame rings on Aug. 11 in Uncasville, Connecticut, then the ceremony and their speeches will come on Aug. 12 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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