TORONTO (AP) — NBA All-Star game festivities are underway in Toronto as the league celebrates its past as well as the top players this season. The first item on the agenda was the announcement by the Basketball Hall of Fame of the finalists for the class of 2016. Leading the list of finalists are Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming and Allen Iverson.
O’Neal won four NBA championships, an MVP award and is in the league’s top 10 in career scoring. Iverson, just 6 feet tall, won four scoring titles and was the league’s MVP in 2001. Ming was instrumental in the globalization of the game.
College coaches Tom Izzo, Eddie Sutton, Lefty Driesell, Bo Ryan and Muffet McGraw are included along with women’s star Sheryl Swoopes.
The class of 2016 will be announced during Final Four weekend this April in Houston with the induction ceremony set for Sept. 9 at the Springfield, Massachusetts, shrine.
