Former Celtics star Paul Pierce is nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame

Houston – Former Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and manager Doug Collins are on the list of first-time Basketball Hall of Fame nominees.

Joining them are also former player and coach Michael Cooper and former Australian player Lauren Jackson, who are also among the nominees for the Class of 2021 for the first time.

As with Howard Garfinkel, Lou Henson, Val Ackerman and Yolanda Griffith, to accompany the popular candidates Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Richard Hamilton, Becky Hammon, Swin Cash and Ben Wallace, all of them included in the list of nominees that was unveiled this Tuesday by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.

Pierce spent 15 of his 19 seasons in the NBA with the Celtics, whom he guided to the title in 2008, the seventeenth in their history.

In addition, he won the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, while he finished his professional career with 10 All-Star Game selections and is second on the Celtics’ all-time scorers list, second only to the legendary John Havlicek.

Collins, selected number one by the Philadelphia Sixers in the 1973 college draft, played eight seasons with them.

However, his greatest projection within the NBA was for being Michael Jordan’s second coach, with the Chicago Bulls (1986), and the one who formed him to later face the legend, who preferred the then assistant to Collins, Phil Jackson.

Later, he went on to coach the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and the Philadelphia Sixers with a winning record of 442-407.

Cooper spent 12 seasons with the legendary Los Angeles Lakers and a member of the historic and memorable era “Showtime,” winning five NBA championships alongside Magic Johnson.

The former Lakers point guard was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and included on the All-Defensive team five times.

After his playing career, he went on to coach the Los Angeles Sparks, winning two championships and receiving the WNBA Coach of the Year nomination in 2000.

Jackson is one of the most decorated players, winning the WNBL MVP four times and the WNBA MVP three times.

The former Australian player is a three-time WNBA scoring champion, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2007 and was named MVP of the WNBA Finals in 2010, while leading the Seattle Storm to the title.

Garfinkel is a legendary scout and founded the Five-Star Basketball Camp, Henson is the winningest coach of all time at the University of Illinois and New Mexico, Ackerman was the first WNBA president, and Griffith played 11 years. in the WNBA, winning a title and Finals MVP with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005.

The selection process for the finalists of the North America and Women committee will take place during the NBA All-Star Weekend, scheduled for early March. The entire class of 2021 will be revealed during the NCAA Final Four, scheduled for early next April.

Class 2021 will be installed in Springfield, Massachusetts, in September of next year.

The 2020 consecration ceremony, a star-studded group led by Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, was rescheduled and relocated, scheduled for May 13-15 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.