In 2021, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan could get inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Here’s why that potential HOF class could go down as the greatest ever.
If Kevin Garnett retires this summer, the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class could go down as the greatest in history.
That year, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Garnett would all be eligible for induction. Never before have three former Most Valuable Player (NBA or ABA) winners entered the same class of greats.
Though the greatest of all-time lists are subjective, most concur that Bryant and Duncan are a shoo-in as top-10 players. The numbers speak for themselves.
More from NBA
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- Constructing the NBA’s perfect all-under-25 starting five
- Grading every NBA team’s highest draft pick in the last five years
Many have Garnett in their top-25. The 2004 MVP is one of only four players in history to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and MVP, with Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson being the others.
There have been four instances of two MVPs entering the same class.
In 2016, Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal got inducted. In 2009, David Robinson, Michael Jordan and John Stockton got in. If only Stockton had won the MVP! In 1993, Julius Erving and Bill Walton got in. In 1971, Bob Cousy and Bob Pettit get in.
In 2021, Duncan (MVP: 2001-02 and 2002-03), Garnett (MVP: 2003-04) and Bryant (MVP: 2007-08) could share the same stage. That would be unprecedented.
There have five instances of an MVP and a Finals MVP entering the same class:
- 2000: Bob McAdoo (1974-75 MVP) and Isiah Thomas (1989-90 Finals MVP)
- 1980: Oscar Robertson (1963-64 MVP) and Jerry West (1968-69 Finals MVP)
- 2010: Karl Malone (2x MVP) and Dennis Johnson (1978-79 Finals MVP)
- 2006: Charles Barkley (1992-93 MVP) and Joe Dumars (1988-89 Finals MVP)
- 2015: Spencer Haywood (1969-70 ABA MVP) and Jo Jo White (1975-76 Finals MVP)
Any chance KG plays another year?
With Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine making rapid strides, Garnett told Steve Aschburner of NBA.com he expects the team to end the 13-year playoff drought this coming season.
As recounted in that same story by Glen Taylor, owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Garnett is still torn about his future because he wants to be a part of the exciting young team that has been bolstered by the inclusion of promising point guard Kris Dunn and coach Tom Thibodeau.
"“I just asked him, ‘Kevin, what are you going to do?’ His answer was, ‘I’d really like to play next year ‘cuz I’d like to go out knowing we got into the playoffs.’“Then he said, ‘I don’t know if I can.’“I asked him, ‘What does that mean?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know.’“So I asked the question but I didn’t get an answer that helped me. Yes, theoretically, he’d like to play. But he has some doubts of his knees holding up. I believe he told me exactly the truth.”"
Garnett, 40, has mentored Towns the same way David Robinson mentored a young Duncan in San Antonio during the late 1990s.
If Garnett were to return for his 22nd NBA season, he would set a new record for the longest career in the NBA. Robert Parish and Kevin Willis played 21 seasons. Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and Bryant finished with 20 seasons while Duncan is about to wind up with 19.
It’s retirement season but the jury is still out on Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. How about Garnett, Pierce and Allen entering the same class? Wouldn’t that be a treat for Boston Celtics fans?
More hoops habit: The Biggest Winners And Losers Of Free Agency
Even if Garnett doesn’t retire, the presence of Bryant and Duncan should be enough to make the 2021 Hall of Fame class one for the ages.