Who's next for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame?
Saturday caps a busy stretch of two inductions in four months after the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the 2020 ceremony until May of this year. With the Hall of Fame hopefully moving back to its usual schedule, we'll see a new crop of candidates this fall, finalists chosen at NBA All-Star Weekend and inductees named at the NCAA Division I men's Final Four.
As we look ahead to next year and beyond, let's consider which new NBA players will be on the ballot four years after their retirement as we project classes in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Given just one of this year's selections (Paul Pierce) was in his first year of eligibility, let's also look at the holdovers who might have a chance to make it in future years.
Projecting Naismith Hall of Fame inductees isn't always easy because of the lack of transparency in the process, conducted by committees with unknown members behind closed doors. Still, we'll do our best to consider which NBA legends might soon be getting a Hall call of their own.