Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame announces 12 finalists - NBA Special (Part – 2)
Maurice Cheeks
Maurice Edward Cheeks has been nominated as a player. Cheeks won an NBA Championship playing on the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers team, the same franchise he coached for three years 22 years later. He was a four-time all-star and a four-time
selection to the NBA All-Defensive team.
Cheeks is currently serving as an assistant coach with Oklahoma City Thunder where he has a profound impact on current all-star Russell Westbrook.
“He is a great guy and he knows a lot about the game,” said Westbrook, who immediately sent Cheeks a congratulatory text message upon learning. “He was probably one of the best guards to play the game and I am really thankful
to have him as my coach because he helps me each and every day.”
Chris Mullin
Mullin played in the capacity of small forward and shooting guard during a career spanning over sixteen years. He was a five time NBA All Star and made it to the All NBA first team once in his career. Presently he is general manager
of the Golden State Warriors, for whom he played from the 1985-86 until the 1996–97 seasons.
Ralph Sampson
Ralph Simpson was a 7ft-3in giant who came into NBA’s fold as the No.1 draft pick in 1983 after already having won the College Player of the Year award three times. His career though only lasted for nine years as injuries took
their toll. Plating for the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Washington Bullets and the Golden State Warriors, he made four All Star appearances and won the All Star MVP in 1985. He was also declared the Rookie of the year in 1984.
Teresa Edwards
Teresa Edwards is the only player in the American basketball history to have played in five Olympics. One of the greatest women basketball players ever to set foot on the court, Teresa has blazed a trail that is hard for anyone
to follow.
Starting from 1984, where she was the youngest member of the U.S. team that captured a Gold Medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, she was the member for virtually every U.S. National Team for three decades. In her illustrious career
that span over 216 international games she compiled 2,000 points, 890 assists, 576 rebounds and 372 steals and a career field goal percentage of 50.3 percent.
Tara VanDerveer
Tara VanDerveer is the Stanford University women's basketball coach for most of the past two decades. In her 33 year long career Tara guided the Stanford University with two titled in 1990 and 1992. In 1995 she took a break from
the collegiate coaching assignment to focus on the responsibility of marshalling the US national Woman Team before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
VanDerveer’s team was one of the best ever in the history of the game, compiling an 80-0 record that eventually culminated in an Olympic gold.
She is also one of only six NCAA Women's Basketball coaches to win at least 800 games.
d**k Motta
John Richard "d**k" Motta was a former NBA coach renowned for his fiery temper and aggressiveness. In a career spanning over 25 years he coached the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Bullets in addition to mentoring various college
teams.
d**k is part of an illustrious list of coaches who rank in among the top ten in term of victories.
Herb Magee
Magee commonly referred to as the shot doctor, is a collegiate coaching legend, having coached at Philadelphia University since 1966.
During his lengthy coaching career of over 47 years, Magee has 921 wins to his credit, more than any coach in NCAA history, besting the previous record of 902 wins held by Bobby Knight.
Hank Nichols
In a profession where one could never make everyone happy, Hank Nichols is the only referee in the list of the selected nominees. For the past 25 years, Nichols has been the NCAA's supervisor of basketball officials. The man who
is responsible for the way games are officiated, for how rules are interpreted and for which officials work the NCAA tournament is thought to be a clear cut winner at the awards.
Al Attles
Attles played eleven seasons for the National Basketball Association's San Francisco Warriors. In 1964 he marshalled his team to the NBA finals against the Boston Celtics, one they eventually lost 4-1.
He is one of first African-American coaches in the history of NBA and is presently the assistant general manager with the Golden State Warriors.
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