FILE PHOTO: Former NBA star Kobe Bryant, CEO of Kobe Inc, speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 3, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
April 16, 2021
(Reuters) – Michael Jordan will be Kobe Bryant’s presenter when the Los Angeles Lakers great is inducted posthumously into the Basketball Hall of Fame next month.
Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Lakers, died last year aged 41 in a helicopter crash alongside his daughter and seven others, shocking the world of sport and sending fans into mourning.
He will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2020 alongside the likes of Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett on May 15.
Members of the Class of 2020 were asked to select previous inductees to present them to their peers during the ceremony.
Lakers guard Bryant, who idolised Jordan growing up, will be presented by the six-time champion, who made an emotional speech at his memorial.
Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty in the 1990s and currently owns the Charlotte Hornets, will also present Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey for her enshrinement.
Former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich and 10-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings are among the other members of the highly anticipated Class of 2020.
Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star, retired from the league in 2016 after one of the most decorated careers in basketball history, and is the NBA’s fourth all-time leading scorer.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
