Sawt Falasteen - Rivers among nine inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame

Joey Crawford, an NBA referee for 39 seasons, and veteran coaches Mike D'Antoni and Mark Few were also among those enshrined in ceremonies at the Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Women inductees included Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and Chamique Holdsclaw, along with the unbeaten 1996 US Olympic gold medal team.

Rivers, who resigned as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in April, has an NBA coaching record of 1,194-866 over 27 seasons with Orlando, Boston, the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

"It's so funny. Never in my life did I dream that I would be a coach or be good at it," Rivers said. "To be going in the Hall now, my mom had this saying, 'For the good or bad of it, you're right where you're supposed to be.'"

He won his only NBA title in 2008 with Boston and was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2000 with Orlando. Rivers also guided the Bucks to the NBA Cup in 2024.

"This is a celebration that I met a collection of people who helped me get to the Hall of Fame," Rivers said.

Six-time NBA All-Star forward Stoudemire, the 2003 Rookie of the Year, averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds a game over 14 seasons with Phoenix, New York, Dallas and Miami.

He was a key player in Phoenix's "Seven Seconds or Less" quick-tempo era that was masterminded by D'Antoni, who was enshrined as a contributor and also coached Stoudemire in New York.

"I loved the challenge. That brings out the best in me," said Stoudemire of his New York days. "Coach D'Antoni was there, so I had a familiar face as coach."

Innovator D'Antoni pioneered the fast-tempo offensive strategy through passing. He coached eight seasons in Italy and 16 in the NBA, winning 672 games in stints with Denver, Phoenix, New York, Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers. He won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2005 and 2017.

Parker was a three-time Women's NBA champion and two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player, while Delle Donne was a two-time MVP who led Washington to the 2019 crown.

Holdsclaw was a six-time WNBA All-Star who won three US college titles with Tennessee, played 11 WNBA seasons and won 2000 Olympic gold.

Crawford served as an NBA referee for 39 seasons from 1977-2016. He officiated 2,561 regular-season NBA games, second-most in league history, and 50 NBA Finals games, working every final from 1986-2015.

Gonzaga head coach Few is the winningest active US college basketball coach and has guided the Bulldogs into two national championship games.

W.AbuLaban--SF-PST