Vince Carter, Seimone Augustus, 2008 ‘Redeem Team’ highlight basketball 2024 Hall of Fame nominees
The Basketball Hall of Fame released its full list of eligible candidates for next year’s class on Thursday afternoon.
Though the announcement of the new inductees is still several months away — the Class of 2024 will be officially announced at the Final Four in April — there are several notable first-time nominees who have made the first cut.
Among them is longtime Toronto Raptors star and 22-year veteran Vince Carter. The 46-year-old first entered the league in 1998 and played until he was 43. His 22 seasons in the league set the NBA record for most played, ahead of other former stars like Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki and current Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.
Longtime Detroit Pistons center and WNBA coach Bill Laimbeer was nominated for the first time in his career as a player. He spent 15 seasons in the league and won two titles with the Pistons. Rick Barnes is nominated for the first time, too, after his more than three decades coaching at the college level. The former Texas coach is currently in his ninth season at Tennessee this year. Other former players like Chauncey Billups and Shawn Marion, and coaches like Jim Larrañaga, John Beilein and Bo Ryan, are nominated again, too.
On the women’s side, longtime WNBA star Seimone Augustus earned her first nomination. Augustus won four WNBA titles with the Minnesota Lynx while picking up eight All-Star nods throughout her 15 seasons in the league.
The Hall of Fame can also induct the 2008 U.S. men’s Olympic team into this year’s class. That team, led by stars like Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, James, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, Dwight Howard and others, won the gold medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing. They earned the “Redeem Team” nickname after Team USA slipped and won bronze at the 2004 Games, which snapped a three-Olympics gold medal streak.
The Hall of Fame will reveal the Class of 2024 during the men’s Final Four on April 6. The enshrinement ceremony will take place next August.