The president of the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield says the death of Kobe Bryant is sure to cast a different light over enshrinement celebrations later this year.
John Doleva is president and CEO at the Hall of Fame. He said the selection process for the next inductees is in its early stages.
But Doleva told NEPR it’s a foregone conclusion that Bryant will be among the class of 2020.
John Doleva, Basketball Hall of Fame: We start that process, believe it or not, the day after tomorrow. Everyone believes and knows that he'll be elected to the Hall of Fame. But there was so much ahead of him. And people say, "What do you remember most about Kobe?"
What's touched me the most, just recently, is he and his daughter enjoying those basketball games, going through the practice. Just seeing them work together, and how much she loved the game, and how much he loved to be teaching her about the game.
And that's kind of that "What could it have been?" question. That's kind of what's touching me right now.
The records on the court are unbelievable. You know, kind of moving on to that next chapter, where he's a father, an author, a coach and a big fan of women's basketball. I think that's important.
I know he had taken his daughter to the Final Four a couple years ago, watching UConn. I think she had her eye, even though she was only 13, on playing at UConn and for Geno [Auriemma]. So those kind of emotions come back.
Kari Njiiri, NEPR: Had you ever met him?
I had. I actually met him in his rookie year when I worked at Spalding Sporting Goods. We signed him as an autograph on a series of balls for retail. And he was 17 or 18 years old.
We were out in Los Angeles and said, "You're going to have to be at this location at 10:00 and we'll be all set up. So we're going to send a limo at 9:00 for you."
He goes, "No, no, no, I'll drive myself." And we go, "No, no," thinking in our minds, we know professional athletes. So a quarter of 10, he drives up by himself. He's all ready. He does the first take. We're thinking it's going to take all day. We've got three or four hours with him.
First take, he nails it. He says, "Let's do it again." Nails it. Nails it a third time. And then he says — it's probably about 10:45 — and he says, "You've got me for three more hours. Let's shoot some B-roll."
So that was my first exposure to Kobe Bryant — like, wow, that's refreshing. And then, of course, through the Hall of Fame and through the various NBA events, I was able to meet him a number of times.
I do know that one of my staff members who kind of just keeps people informed in the queue for being enshrined, visited with Kobe at his business a couple of months ago. And he was excited. He didn't want to be too excited because he wasn't going to jinx himself, which, you know, makes all of our eyes roll.
But he was excited to be coming to Springfield and taking part in this, and being a part of basketball history. But for all of us, it's mostly, you know, what was next from Kobe? We'll never know, unfortunately.
Talk about the eligibility and induction. What's the process?
A player in his category needs to be retired for three seasons, which basically equates to four years.
We have about 70 people that are nominated in the category, which is North American committee, that players and coaches are considered.
He was in that category.
We will, later this week, boil that down to no more than 10, with a [screening] committee that gets together.
We will then announce who those finalists are at the All-Star Game in mid-February. And then by ballot vote. There are actually, ironically, 24 — Kobe's number — 24 voters that will vote on the finalists. And we will announce our class officially at the Final Four in Atlanta in early April.
And the induction ceremony takes place...?
August 23, 24, 25. So, you know, it's — we were gearing up for a terrific celebration, and now it takes a little bit different turn.
I certainly think there will be a lot of time and energy devoted to Kobe. And of course, David Stern passed away a couple weeks ago, as well.
So I tell people today that Hall of Famers live forever in the Hall of Fame. So you know, [if you] take any solace with that, is that we're going to be able to celebrate Kobe far into the future, for future generations, here at the Hall of Fame.
