Dwyane Wade is among the finalists elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Dirk Nowitzki and coach Gregg Popovich, international stars Pau Gasol and Tony Parker, and WNBA legend Becky Hammon also have been voted into the 2023 class, sources said.
A formal announcement on the full Class of 2023 will come Saturday at the NCAA men’s Final Four in Houston.
Wade, a Chicago native who played for Richards High School in Oak Lawn, won three championships with the Heat and was NBA Finals MVP in 2006. He was a 13-time All-Star and an Olympic gold medalist for USA Basketball in 2008. He is 32nd on the NBA’s all-time points list (23,165).
Wade led Richards to a sectional final in 2000, his senior year, but lost to Brother Rice.
In college, Wade led Marquette to the 2003 Final Four, its first appearance since winning the national title in 1977.
Wade played one season — 2016-17 — with the Bulls, averaging 18.3 points in 29.9 minutes. The Bulls lost to the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Gasol won two championships with the Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant and was a six-time All-Star and two-time Olympic silver medalist for Spain.
Gasol played two seasons — 2014-15 and 2015-16 — with the Bulls and was an All-Star in both. During those two seasons, he averaged 17.6 points and 11.4 rebounds over 31.1 minutes. In the 2015 playoffs, the Bulls beat the Bucks in the first round before losing to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bulls did not make the playoffs in Gasol’s second season.
Nowitzki is No. 6 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 31,550 points, and he was named league MVP in 2007 and won a championship with the Mavericks in 2011, when he was named Finals MVP.
Popovich is the NBA’s all-time leader in coaching wins and guided the Spurs to five championships.
Hammon was a six-time All-Star in her WNBA career and coached the Las Vegas Aces to a championship this past summer in her first season with the team.
The enshrinement is scheduled for Aug. 12 in Springfield, Massachusetts..
Sun-Times wires
