Bill Laimbeer, one of the important players on the Detroit Pistons NBA championship teams of the late 1980s, is one of a group of folks nominated for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Thursday.
Laimbeer is on the ballot, along with Vince Carter, Seimone Augustus, Rick Barnes, Mike Fratello and Penny Taylor as well as the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team.
Finalists will be announced on Feb. 16 during NBA All-Star 2024 in Indianapolis. Then the inductees will be announced during March Madness, at the men’s Final Four on April 6 in Phoenix.
Laimbeer played for the Pistons from 1982 to 1993. He played two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was traded in 1982. He averaged 12.9 points and 9.7 rebounds for his career. The Pistons won the NBA title in 1989 and 1990 and lost in 1988 in the Finals.
Carter played in the NBA from 1998-2020 for eight teams. He averaged 16.7 points and was the king of the acrobatic dunks. He won the 2000 Slam Dunk contest with one of the most memorable dunks ever.
Barnes is the coach at Tennessee. He has 787 victories, which puts him No. 15 all-time among Division I head coaches, including second among such active coaches. He has taken his teams to 27 NCAA Tournament appearances, tied with Lute Olson and Dean Smith for fifth-most all-time and two more than any other active DI head coach.
Augustus won four WNBA titles with the Minnesota Lynx while picking up eight All-Star nods throughout her 15 seasons in the league. She also led the LSU women to the Final Four in 2004, 2005 and 2006, was a two-time national player of the year and four-time SEC player of the year.
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024 ballot
* Indicates First-Time Nominee
North America nominees
| 2008 U.S. Olympic Redeem Team (team)* | Marv Kessler (coach)* |
| Rick Barnes (coach)* | Bill Laimbeer (player)* |
| John Beilein (coach) | Jim Larranaga (coach) |
| Chauncey Billups (player) | Mike Leonardo (coach)* |
| Vince Carter (player)* | Maurice Lucas (player) |
| Tom Chambers (player) | Shawn Marion (player) |
| John Clougherty (referee) | Rollie Massimino (coach) |
| Michael Cooper (player) | Bill Morse (coach)* |
| Joey Crawford (referee) | Dick Motta (coach) |
| Terry Cummings (player) | Jack Nagle (coach)* |
| Jack Curran (coach) | Jim Phelan (coach) |
| Bobby Dibler (referee)* | Bo Ryan (coach) |
| Don Donoher (coach)* | Charles Smith (coach)* |
| Robert Foley (coach)* | Stan Spirou (coach) |
| Mike Gminski (player)* | Reggie Theus (player) |
| Lou Henson (coach) | Jerry Welsh (coach)* |
| Marques Houtman (player)* | Buck Williams (player) |
| Marques Johnson (player) | John Williamson (player) |
Women’s nominees
| Leta Andrews (coach) | Debbie Miller-Palmore (player) |
| Seimone Augustus (player)* | Marian Washington (coach) |
| Jennifer Azzi (player) | Dean Weese (coach) |
| Doug Bruno (coach)* | Chris Weller (coach)* |
| Cheryl Ford (player)* | Andrew Yosinoff (coach)* |
| Becky Martin (coach) |
Contributor nominees
| Pete Babcock | Bobby Lewis |
| Dick Baumgartner | Fred McCall |
| Henry Bibby | Jack McCloskey |
| Marty Blake | Jon McGlocklin |
| Vic Bubas | Speedy Morris |
| Doug Collins | Dennis Murphy |
| Wayne Duke | Curly Neal |
| Bill Foster | Jack Powers |
| Mike Fratello* | Will Robinson |
| Bob Gibbons | Gene Shue |
| Simon Gourdine | Herb Simon* |
| Tim Grgurich | Scott Tarter* |
| Junius Kellogg | Donnie Walsh |
| Johnny “Red” Kerr | Jerry West* |
| Tom Konchalski | World Wheelers* |
International nominees
| David Blatt (coach)* | Ettore Messina (coach)* |
| Tal Brody (contributor)* | Juan Carlos Navarro (player)* |
| Jean-Jacques Conceicao (player)* | Andres Nocioni (player)* |
| Mirza Delibasic (player) | Fabricio Oberto (player)* |
| Jorge Garbajosa (player)* | Jose Ortiz (player)* |
| Andrew Gaze (player)* | Amaury Pasos (player) |
| Panaglotis Giannakis (player)* | Modesto Palauskas (player)* |
| Giuseppe Giergia (player) | Togo Soares (player) |
| Dusan Ivkovic (player) | Penny Taylor (player)* |
| Andrei Kirilenko (player)* | Michele Timms (player)* |
| Vladimir Kondrashin (coach) | Amaya Valdemore (player)* |
| Marcos Leite (player) | Ranko Zeravica (coach) |
Women’s veteran nominees
| 1982 Cheyney State NCAA Final Four Team (team) | Lometa Odom (player) |
| Alline Banks Sprouse (player) | Harley Redin (coach) |
| Edmonton Commercial Grads (team) | Hazel Walker (player) |
| John Head (coach) | Valerie Walker (player) |
| Yolanda Laney (player) | Dean Weese (coach) |
| Nashville Business College (team) |
Veteran nominees
| 1936 US Olympic Team (team) | Bill Melchionni (player) |
| 1972 US Olympic Team (team) | Francis Meehan (player) |
| Dick Barnett (player) | Lucias Mitchell (coach) |
| Tom Blackburn (coach) | Joe Mullaney (coach) |
| Charles Brown (player)* | Willie Naulls (player) |
| Freddie Brown (player) | Ben Newman (contributor)* |
| Jack Coleman (player) | Don Otten (player)* |
| Leroy Edwards (player) | Louis Pieri (contributor)* |
| Leo Ferris (contributor) | Kevin Porter (player) |
| Travis Grant (player) | Glenn Roberts (player) |
| Jack Hartman (coach) | Lennie Rosenbluth (player) |
| Cam Henderson (coach) | Kenny Sailors (player) |
| Robert Hopkins (player) | Fred Schaus (contributor) |
| Charles Keinath (player) | Sam Schulman (contributor) |
| Greg Kelser (player) | Paul Silas (player) |
| Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (team) | Dick Van Arsdale (player) |
| Loyola of Chicago (team) | Tom Van Arsdale (player) |
| Dan Lynch (coach)* | Cleo Vaughn (player)* |
| Billy Markward (contributor) | Lambert Will (contributor) |
| Jack McKinney (contributor) | Max Zaslofsky (player) |