By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
San Antonio Spurs icon and four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili has been named into the list of 11 finalists for the 2022 Naismith Hall of Fame Class, as unveiled during a press conference as part of the All-Star Weekend festivities in Cleveland.
Joining him in the selection, WNBA legends Swin Cash and Lindsay Whalen, Los Angeles Lakers‘ Michael Cooper, former Milwaukee Bucks forward Marques Johnson, NBA referee Hugh Evans, college coach Bob Huggins, coach George Karl, women’s college and WNBA coach Marianne Stanley, five-time All-Star Tim Hardaway, and Texas girls’ high school basketball coach Leta Andrews.
Ginobili became one of the faces of the Spurs dynasty, next to Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and future Hall of Famer Tony Parker, while he has also won the gold medal with Argentina in 2004 and a bronze medal in 2008, and a EuroLeague title with Virtus Bologna in 2001.
The Argentinean legend retired from professional basketball on August 27, 2018, leaving behind a great legacy with the Spurs and the national team, along with numerous accolades.
The finalists will next be voted by a panel to determine this year’s class of HoF inductees and the results will be announced at the NCAA Men’s Final Four on April 2 in New Orleans. The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled to take place on September 10 in Springfield, Massachusetts.