BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME WELCOMES MALONE, PIPPEN, BUSS

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame will announce their new inductees on Monday, and among those receiving the sport’s top honor will be a couple of former NBA superstars and an influential owner.  Utah Jazz great Karl Malone, the Chicago Bulls’ Scottie Pippen and Los Angeles Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss will be announced as three of the Hall of Fame’s newest members at a press conference in Indianapolis in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four.

Both Malone and Pippen will join teammates that entered the Hall of Fame last year.  Malone’s longtime set up man, point guard John Stockton was inducted last year as was Pippen’s teammate, the iconic Michael Jordan.  Pippen finished as the second leading scorer in Bulls’ history and played 12 of his 16 years in Chicago where he won six NBA titles.

Bulls’ GM Jerry Krause gave credit to Pippen’s often overlooked defensive toughness:

"It was his body of work. The dunks were nice, but I'll always remember the defense. He could guard anybody."

Malone and Stockton comprised the nucleus of the Utah Jazz’s feared halfcourt ‘pick and roll’ offense.  Stockton would retire as the NBA’s all time assist leader, while Malone is the #2 all time scorer.  The Jazz made the NBA Finals twice, losing both times to the Chicago Bulls.
 
Los Angeles Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss purchased the team when they were searching for an identity, and had won only one NBA Championship in 25 years.  Not long after, the team drafted Magic Johnson and ‘Showtime’ was born.  L.A. would win five championships in the next nine seasons while advancing the NBA Finals 9 times in 12 years.  Buss retains ownership of the team today, though day to day operations are now handled by his son Jim and daughter Jeannie.  Buss suggests that his primary motivation in purchasing the Lakers was a desire to instill a sense of civic pride in his hometown:

"My dream really was to have the Lakers and Los Angeles identified as one and the same. When I was just a fan, I used to really object when I would go to see the Lakers playing New York and most of the crowd would be ex-New Yorkers cheering for the Knicks. Then the next time, it would be the same with some other team. When you think New York, you think Yankees. I wanted that to be the case here as well. That when you think L.A., you think Lakers. I believe I've accomplished that."

Also tabbed for Hall of Fame induction are former Boston Celtics’ great Dennis Johnson, ex-WNBA star Cynthia Cooper-Dyke and longtime St. Anthony's High School coach Bob Hurley.  The induction ceremonies are scheduled for Aug. 13 in Springfield, Massachusetts.