2013 NBA Hall of Fame Inductees

last wednesday, john doleva, the president of the naismith memorial hall of fame, called seven people to tell them they were inducted into the class of 2013. university of louisville head coach rick pitino was one of the lucky seven. louisville will play michigan for the national championship monday.

said pitino, "when i got the call I was trying to call my wife over so she could hear it & i'm trying to put it on speaker phone & a text keeps beeping as i'm getting this special call. i saw the text. go gophers. i got the job." it was his son richard, who had just found out he was chosen to be the head coach at minnesota.

overall, 12 people are being given the nba's most precious & prestigious award. the announcement came during a ceremony held in atlanta: the site of this year's final four. among those honored are former nba stars bernard king & gary payton, former university of virginia star dawn staley, college coaches sylvia hatchell of north carolina, guy lewis of houston & jerry tarkanian of unlv.

others announced previously are roger brown, indiana pacers guard; russ granik, longtime assistant commissioner of the nba; richie guerin, new york knicks star in the 1950's; edwin e.b. henderson, a direct elect by the early african pioneer committee, & oscar schmidt of brazil, the leading scorer in olympic history. the inductions will take place in springfield, massachusetts on september 8.

as a young assistant with the knicks from 1983-85, pitino forged a relationship with king, who was one of the most feared scorers in the game. said king, "i remember rick as a very young coach, a coach starting his career, a coach who knew the game." king averaged 22 points in his 15-year nba career, including 34.8 points in the 1984 nba playoffs.

king said, "i remember rick came with me to the nba all-star game & we were flying from denver to san antonio. we talked a lot about that even though we had some injuries we had to get off to a good start. that first game in san antonio i scored 50 points. the next night in dallas i had a milk shake & a turkey sandwich & scored 50 points again. i guess you can say this is the culmination of my life in basketball."            

payton was known as "the glove" for his defensive prowess in his years with the seattle supersonics. he was a two-time olympic gold medalist. said payton, "i was an offensive-minded guy when i went to oregon state & coach ralph miller pulled me to the side & said 'you'll be one of the greatest defensive point guards ever' & i said to myself, yeah right. i'm shooting every time i get the ball. i got really good at it & started liking it & took it from there."

lewis led houston to five final fours in his 30 years with the cougars. his teams featured three future hall of famers: clyde drexler, elvin hayes & hakeem olajuwon. tarkanian took three different schools to the ncaa tournament, but he will always be known for biting his towel & his teams at unlv - they made four final four appearances, including their title in 1990.

hatchell joins tar heels men's coaches dean smith & roy williams as hall of famers. one of three women's coaches to win 900 games, she won championships on three levels - aiaw, naia & ncaa. staley was a three-time olympic gold medalist, five-time wnba all-star & two-time national college player of the year with virginia. she's the only women's college basketball player with 2,000 points, 700 assists & 400 steals.