We start from the bench with Rudy Tomjonavoich, who started his career in the NBA as a player. he played 11 seasons for the Rockets, where he was a five time all star and his number 45 was retired by the team. After his playing days he took over behind the bench. He won two titles (1994 and 1995) in Houston. he started as an assistant coach from 83-92 and then took over as head coach from 93 to 03. He finished his coaching career from 2004 to 2005 as the Lakers bench boss. He was considered by a few of his brethren to be a genius. He, of course, deflected those notions, which was just his manor and style. He had a reputation as a players coach, with his easy going style and hands off manor made him a joy to play for. A lot of players were eager to play for him and you could see why during his time in Houston.
Now for the three headlining players, we start with Tim Duncan. Duncan played for the Spurs from 1997 to 2016. During his career, he racked up 26,406 points in his career, with his number being retired by San Antonio. He won five NBA titles and was a two time league MVP. He was a 15 time all star, a ten time first team all NBA team, a three time second team and a two time third team. What made Tim Duncan so great was how consistent he was. As a big man at power forward, he averaged a double double in his career for points and rebounds. Not only was he consistent during the regular season, he came up clutch in the playoffs too. He not only had higher averages in the playoffs then he did during the regular season, he also won the finals MVP three times during his career. That speaks volumes for how clutch he was during the biggest time of the year.
Then we go to Kevin Garnett. KG played 21 years in the NBA between the Timberwolves, Celtics, Nets and Timberwolves again. He was on the 2008 Celtics team that won the title and was league MVP in 2004. Garnett was a 15 time all star, four time all first team, three time all second team and two time all third team. He finished his career scoring 26,071 points during his career. KG was known for being one of the better all around players in this game, being able to excel at both ends of the floor. He was the face of the Timberwolves franchise and deserves every honor he's gotten in his fantastic career.
Finally, there's the biggest star of this year's class, Kobe Bryant. Even if this wasn't a Posthumous induction, there was little doubt in anybody's mind that Kobe was going to get in, which sucks he won't be around to see it, having passed away back in January. Kobe played his entire twenty year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe won five NBA titles, winning finals MVP twice. He was a 14 time all star, an eleven time first teamer, a two time second teamer and a two time third teamer. He finished his career scoring 33,643 points during his fantastic career. What made Kobe so great was his competative nature. He wanted to be the very best in the game, and on a lot of nights, he was. He was even called by Adam Silver as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He could do a little bit of everything and do it well, becoming the first player in league history to score 30,000 points and register 6,000 assists. He also had this look on his face most nights that was intimidating as hell to play against. he lived up to his Black Mamba nickname night in and night out.
There you have it, the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class!
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