Over the weekend, basketball legends like Tamika Catchings, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and several others were officially enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The weekend was capped off by the announcement of next year's class. Paul Pierce, Chris Webber, Chris Bosh and Ben Wallace will headline next year's hall of fame ceremony. Adding to next year's hall of fame class, Howard Garfinkel, Yolanda Griffith, Jay Wright, Rick Adelman, Lauren Jackson, Pearl Moore, Toni Kukoc, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Val Ackerman and Bob Dandridge will also be inducted. Rounding out the class, Bill Russell will be inducted as a coach after being inducted as a player years prior.
"It's pretty amazing," Villanova University Men's Basketball Head Coach Jay Wright said after learning that he will be inducted into the hall of fame.
"You showed the picture of all those guys -- Bill Russell, KG, Chris Webber -- and just to be hanging with these guys right now and listening to their stories and being part of the Hall with them, and this class, it's nothing you'd ever even dream of. It's pretty cool."
The weekend's announcement also opened the door for a heartfelt moment between Webber and his former teammate Jalen Rose. Rose and Webber have long had a public war of words that stemmed from the end of their college career. However, all of that went by the wayside on Sunday when Webber appeared on ESPN's NBA Countdown while Rose and Maria Taylor were hosting the show. Taylor introduced Webber before he and Rose began reminiscing on their childhood friendship, college years and much more. The interview ended with Webber thanking Rose's mother for supporting him when he was a young basketball player. It's unclear if the two have truly reconciled off-camera, but it was nice to see the two share a heartfelt moment on camera.
The next enshrinement ceremony is set to take place in Massachusetts this September.
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