Three of the greatest NBA players of the last few decades were considered as sure-fire inductees on their first year of eligibility, so the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class was always going to be special. Unfortunately, there will be a shadow over this celebration of basketball greatness, since one of the participants is the late Kobe Bryant.
There will be a slew of other worthy individuals inducted, but Bryant was widely regarded as the class’s frontrunner right before his death. And on Thursday afternoon, we heard a detail about this year’s ceremony that will make it even more memorable: Michael Jordan will play a key role.
The list of people who will officially welcome all of the names in this class into Springfield has been published by the Springfield City Hall. Jordan, a 2009 inductee, will be the one to welcome Bryant into the Hall of Fame. Jordan will also act as a presenter for Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, with David Robinson (who will induct former San Antonio Spurs teammate Tim Duncan) and Isiah Thomas among the other notable presenters (inducting Kevin Garnett).
It’s hardly the first time Jordan has spoken about Bryant since he passed away in early-2020, as he was one of the people who spoke at his memorial at Staples Center. The 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on May 15.
