Kobe Bryant leads contenders to be elected to Basketball Hall of Fame

In this 1996 photo Kobe Bryant dunks the ball at his high school gym during a practice. Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, died in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday, January 26, 2020. AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant defends Denver Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File

Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, top, goes up for a shot between the Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce, left, and Al Jefferson during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Branimir Kvartuc

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) points to a player behind him after making a basket in the closing seconds against the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of the NBA basketball finals, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Smoke rises from the charred remains of a helicopter on the side of a hill in Calabasas, Calif. where NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant was killed on Sunday January 26, 2020. AP Photo/Richard Vogel

os Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher, center, holds the Larry O'Brien Trophy as Kobe Bryant, right, holds the MVP trophy as they celebrate after beating the Boston Celtics, 83-79, in Game 7 of the NBA basketball finals in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant flashes the victory sign during a parade in downtown Los Angeles. AP Photo/Richard Vogel

A fan pays respects at a mural depicting Kobe Bryant in a downtown Los Angeles alley after word of the Lakers star's death in a helicopter crash, in downtown Los Angeles Sunday, January 26, 2020. AP Photo/Matt Hartman

All eight finalists for enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, headed by the late Kobe Bryant, will be inducted, according to various media reports.

The other reported members of the Hall's Class of 2020 will be Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Eddie Sutton, Rudy Tomjanovich, Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey and Barbara Stevens.

Bryant, Duncan, Garnett and Catchings all are first-time finalists. Nominees needed to received at least 18 votes from the 24 electors to be enshrined.

The official announcement will be made Saturday at noon ET on ESPN. The news normally is revealed at the site of the NCAA men's basketball Final Four, which this year would have been Atlanta, but the entire NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Bryant, Duncan and Garnett were elected.

The Tulsa World broke the news about Sutton, with ESPN adding that it confirmed the report.

Fox 26 Houston and the Houston Chronicle reported that Tomjanovich was voted in, while longtime women's basketball reporter Mel Greenberg tweeted that Catchings, Mulkey and Stevens were elected.

Bryant died January 26 at 41 in a helicopter crash. He was an 18-time All-Star, five-time NBA champion, two-time scoring champion and the 2007-08 Most Valuable Player. The Los Angeles Lakers great ranks fourth in NBA history in points, and he was selected to the All-Defensive team 12 times.

Duncan, 43, was a 15-time All-Star, five-time NBA champion and the MVP in 2001-02 and 2002-03. The San Antonio Spurs stalwart received 15 All-Defensive nods and was a three-time NBA Finals MVP.

Garnett, 43, was a 15-time All-Star, an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics in 2007-08 and the league MVP in 2003-04. He played the majority of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves and had a brief stint with the Brooklyn Nets.

Sutton, 84, coached Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four three times. Including a brief stint at San Francisco, he wound up with an 804-328 career record.

Tomjanovich, 71, coached the Houston Rockets to NBA championship in 1993-94 and 1994-95. He also averaged 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 11 seasons as a player with the Rockets, and he was an All-American for Michigan, where he remains the all-time leading rebounder and is second in scoring average.

Catchings, 40, was a 10-time All-Star in 15 years with the WNBA's Indiana Fever. She was the MVP of the WNBA Finals as the Fever won the league title in 2012, a year after she was the regular-season MVP. She was a five-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Mulkey, 57, was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 2000, and now she is entering as a coach. She led Baylor to NCAA titles in 2004, 2012 and 2019, and she was selected the USBWA National Coach of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2019.

Stevens, 65, has amassed a total of 1,039 coaching wins for three Massachusetts programmes: Clark, UMass and Bentley. A five-time WBCA Division II National Coach of the year, she led Bentley to the 2014 Division II title.