Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter and Seimone Augustus were among the 14 finalists for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024 announced Friday night.
The list, which also features longtime Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and Jerry West in the contributor category, is a prelude to the official announcement of the class on April 6 at the men’s Final Four in Phoenix.
Billups has been on the ballot since the 2018 voting cycle, but he is a finalist for the first time. Carter and Augustus, two eight-time All-Stars in their respective leagues, are in their first years on the ballot.
The list of finalists is sent to the Hall of Fame’s honors committee to be considered for enshrinement in Springfield, Mass., Aug. 16-17.
Billups helped the Detroit Pistons win the 2004 NBA championship and was named NBA Finals MVP. He averaged 15.2 points and 5.4 assists per game over 1,043 career games, mostly with the Pistons (2002-08) and Denver Nuggets (2009-11). His 89.4 career free-throw percentage ranks sixth in NBA/ABA history.
Carter — the only person to play in the NBA during four different decades — made his greatest impact with the Toronto Raptors, where he became the franchise’s first star player a few years into its existence. He averaged 16.7 points per game for his career and owns the single-season franchise scoring records for both the Raptors and Nets. He won the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest in iconic fashion and made the ninth-most 3-pointers (2,290) in league history.
Augustus spent 14 of her 15 WNBA seasons with the Minnesota Lynx and was the 2011 WNBA Finals MVP. Before averaging 15.4 points across 391 games in the WNBA, Augustus was also a college star at LSU, reaching three straight Final Fours and winning consecutive Naismith and Wooden awards for national player of the year in 2005 and 2006.
The other finalists and their respective categories are:
–Michael Cooper (Player): Spent his entire 12-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers and was part of five championship teams; averaged 8.9 ppg; won the 1987 Defensive Player of the Year award.
–Walter Davis (Player): A six-time All-Star and the all-time leading scorer in Phoenix Suns history.
–Bo Ryan (Coach): Won 747 games across 32 seasons as a head coach at Wisconsin-Platteville, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wisconsin; took the Badgers to consecutive Final Four appearances in 2014 and 2015; member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
–Charles Smith (Coach): Became the winningest head coach in Louisiana high school history in 2020; led his teams to eight state championships.
–Marian Washington (Coach): Won 560 games over 31 seasons as the women’s basketball coach at Kansas; was the first Black woman to coach a United States team in international competition.
–Dick Barnett (Player, Veteran Committee): Helped Tennessee A&I become the first historically Black college to win a national basketball title, winning three straight at the NAIA level (1957-59); played 14 NBA seasons and won two titles with the New York Knicks, who retired his No. 12.
–Harley Redin (Coach, Veteran Committee): Won 431 games in 18 seasons as coach of the women’s program at Wayland Baptist; coached the U.S. women’s national team in various competitions in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
–Michele Timms (Player, International Committee): Australian national team point guard who brought the Phoenix Mercury to the 1998 WNBA Finals.
–Doug Collins (Contributor): Won 442 games as head coach of the Chicago Bulls (1986-89), Pistons (1995-98), Washington Wizards (2001-03) and Philadelphia 76ers (2010-13); worked as a broadcaster for CBS, NBC, TNT, TBS and ABC/ESPN, as well as contributing Olympic coverage as an NBC broadcaster in 2008 and 2012.
–Herb Simon (Contributor): Current owner of the Indiana Pacers and the longest-tenured governor in NBA history since purchasing the franchise in 1983.
–Jerry West (Contributor): Two-time NBA Executive of the Year (1995, 2004) considered the architect of Lakers teams that won eight NBA titles under his watch, five in the 1980s and then three straight in 2000-02 with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal; already enshrined in the Hall as a player in 1980.
–Field Level Media