(AllHipHop News) With everything that is going on in the world right now, it may feel like Kobe Bryant’s untimely death took place years ago. The basketball legend and eight other people actually died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.
Bryant was set to be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the induction ceremony to be delayed. Jerry Colangelo, the HOF’s chairman of the board of governors, revealed the event is being moved until 2021.
“We’re definitely canceling,” Colangelo told ESPN. “It’s going to have to be the first quarter of next year. We’ll meet in a couple of weeks and look at the options of how and when and where.”
Congratulations to the Class of 2020. The Road To SPRINGFIELD starts now. 🏀🏆 #20HoopClass
🎟: https://t.co/SaTjBX6R7t pic.twitter.com/Zt6HH91VUG
— Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) April 4, 2020
Besides Kobe Bryant, the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2020 will also include fellow former NBA Most Valuable Player Award winners Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. In addition, championship-winning Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings, and recently deceased college coach Eddie Sutton also among this year’s selections.
Colangelo confirmed that there will be separate ceremonies for the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021. He stated, “The Class of 2020 is a very special class and deserves its own celebration.”
