NBA News, Rumors 2016: Shaq, AI Lead 2016 Hall of Fame Finalists

By Jude Abastar, Christian Post Contributor Monday, February 15, 2016

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will once again induct another set of personalities and figures in basketball, this time for the 2016 class. As usual, finalists come from the different aspects of the game, including players, pioneers, coaches, and the like. For this year, the list of finalists is headed by some of the biggest names in the sport in the past three decades, including Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson, and Kevin Johnson.

The announcement for this year's finalists was made last Friday before the start of the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto and joining the three basketball greats are Tom Izzo, Bo Ryan, John McLendon, Eddie Sutton, Robert Hughes, Sheryl Swoopes, Darrell Garretson, Muffet McGraw, Leita Andrews, Lefty Driesell, and the 1954-58 Wayland Baptist University team.

The inclusion of both Iverson and O'Neal didn't come as a surprise for most basketball pundits, knowing that Shaq is one of the most dominant players and big men to have graced the basketball court, while Iverson held the NBA scoring title for several years.

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Shaq retired after winning practically everything every NBA player is hoping to win, including four championships, Rookie of the Year, three Finals MVP awards, one regular season MVP, and eight First Team selections. Aside from those, he also is a 14-time member of the All-NBA team and ranks seventh in history in scoring.

Iverson for his part is no doubt one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the game and is considered by many as one of the best players, regardless of height and position. He popularized the crossover dribble and had one of the biggest hearts and passion for the game. He won a league MVP and Rookie of the Year award and made it to seven All-NBA teams.

One name that failed to make the cut this year is Chris Webber, who many believe was a surefire nominee. This year's class is scheduled to be announced on April 4 before the start of the college basketball's men's championship game.