Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Report: Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill Elected to Basketball Hall of Fame

Tim Daniels

Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill and Maurice Cheeks reportedly will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of its 2018 class.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the superstar quartet's impending enshrinement and noted an official announcement is expected this weekend. Longtime front office exec Rod Thorn will also get the nod as a contributor to the game, per Wojnarowski

Nash spent 18 seasons in the NBA, including 10 years across two stints with the Phoenix Suns, six years with the Dallas Mavericks and two years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Born in South Africa and raised in Canada, Nash was selected by the Suns with the 15th overall pick out of Santa Clara in the 1996 draft. He won back-to-back Most Valuable Player Awards in 2005 and 2006.

His resume also features eight All-Star selections, five times leading the league in assists and three first-team All-NBA nods.

Nash and Kidd were teammates in Phoenix in 1997 and 1998, and they matched up regularly in the following seasons as two of the best point guards of the generation. Kidd also paced the NBA in assists on five occasions. While he couldn't match Nash's shooting, he was a lockdown defender who got named to the All-Defensive First Team four times.

The San Francisco native played for the Mavericks, Suns, New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks across a 19-year career. The 10-time All-Star has served as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks since retiring as a player.

Although much of the conversation around Hill focuses on how good he may have been if not for injury problems, the small forward put together a terrific career. After winning two NCAA titles at Duke, he made seven NBA All-Star Games and five total appearances on the All-NBA first and second teams.

The Dallas native averaged 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 18 pro seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Suns (where he teamed with Nash for five seasons) and Los Angeles Clippers.

Cheeks waited longer than those stars of the 1990s and 2000s for his call from Springfield. He started his career with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1978 and earned four All-Star selections before retiring after the 1993 campaign with the Nets.

He helped the Sixers win an NBA championship in 1983 alongside now fellow Hall of Famers Moses Malone and Julius Erving.

   

Read 0 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)