Chris Bosh was sure to thank Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for his role in making him a Hall of Famer.
In May, the basketball world gathered to induct the 2020 class into the Hall of Fame. That ceremony was delayed because of COVID-19, so now, four months later, a second delayed induction was held for the class of 2021. Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Toni Kukoc, Bill Russell, Ben Wallace and Chris Webber were the latest inductees.
Pat Riley recruited Chris Bosh to the Miami Heat relentlessly in 2010. He was so determined to land Bosh and fellow All-Star LeBron James that, in his meeting with Bosh, he not only dropped all of his championship rings on the table, but even gave the one he won in 2006 to Bosh with a simple message: “Give it back to me when we win one together.” Two years later, they did just that, but Bosh never got around to returning the ring … until Saturday’s ceremony.Â
Chris Bosh gives something back to Pat Riley. ? pic.twitter.com/oVhf8Y6tJe
— NBA (@NBA) September 12, 2021
Hanging over the ceremony was the absence of a player who affected nearly the entire incoming class in some way or another. Kobe Bryant was inducted as a member of the 2020 class, but his death in a helicopter accident sadly prevented him from seeing so many of his contemporaries get honoured.
Bosh was sure to thank the Lakers legend for his role in making him a Hall of Famer, telling the story of Bryant squeezing in an entire workout at Team USA’s training camp, before Bosh had even woken up despite losing in the NBA Finals only days earlier. The lesson to Bosh was obvious. “Legends aren’t defined by their successes, they’re defined by how they bounce back from their failures.”
“Legends aren’t defined by their successes, they’re defined by how they bounce back from their failures.”
Chris Bosh on what he learned from Kobe Bryant’s work ethic. ?? pic.twitter.com/KbwG8a0hoN
— NBA (@NBA) September 12, 2021
Paul Pierce’s induction into the Hall of Fame was a mostly happy affair. He even buried the hatchet with former teammate Ray Allen, whom he and Kevin Garnett publicly snubbed after Allen left the Boston Celtics for the Miami Heat.
But Pierce couldn’t help but get one last shot in on nine teams: the Clippers, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Raptors, Warriors, Mavericks, Kings, 76ers and Bucks. Why them? Those are the nine teams that passed on Pierce in the 1998 NBA Draft. He thanked them for allowing him to fall to Boston, which allowed him to become a Celtics legend.Â
Toni Kukoc may have become a Chicago Bulls great by winning three championships with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, but his relationship with the duo didn’t start off on the right foot. Jordan and Pippen resented Kukoc, whom the Bulls had drafted in 1990, for a variety of reasons. He was a favuorite of general manager Jerry Krause, whom Jordan and Pippen famously feuded with, and Krause saved salary cap space for Kukoc that could have gone to Pippen.Â
“I would like to thank Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for kicking my butt during the Olympics in Barcelona, and then motivating me to work even harder to become an important part of the Chicago Bulls.” – Toni Kukoc pic.twitter.com/dPihZfdudB
— NBA (@NBA) September 12, 2021
When the three finally met in the 1992 Olympics, Jordan and Pippen went to great lengths to embarrass him. The two defended him across a non-competitive game between the Dream Team and Kukoc’s native Croatia and held the budding star to only four points on 2-of-11 shooting. But Kukoc isn’t bitter. In fact, he thanked the two of them for showing him what succeeding in the NBA really looked like.Â
Former President @BarackObama congratulates Bill Russell on his induction into the @HoopHall as a head coach. As a player-coach, Russell led the @Celtics to the 1968 NBA championship, becoming the first African-American head coach to win an @NBA title. pic.twitter.com/uRdSPsrDYG
— NBA (@NBA) September 11, 2021
Bill Russell made it into the Hall of Fame for his legendary playing career a long time ago, but less appreciated was his groundbreaking career as a coach. Russell became the first black coach in NBA history in 1966 when he took over for Red Auerbach with the Celtics. He won two titles as a player-coach before moving on to stints with the Sonics and Kings, and that resume has earned him an induction for a second time.
That makes him one of only three people in the history of basketball to make it in as both a player and coach, joining Lenny Wilkens and former teammate Tommy Heinsohn. In his brief speech, Russell thanked three instrumental figures in basketball history who are no longer with us: Bryant, Auerbach and former commissioner David Stern.