New Orleans, LA (Best E Casino) - Centers Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing, forever linked from battles in college and the NBA, as well as five-time NBA champion coach Pat Riley, are among 15 finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2008.
Olajuwon, Ewing and Riley are each in their first year of consideration, and will join standout former players Chris Mullin, Adrian Dantley and the late Dennis Johnson on the Hall of Fame ballot.
Veteran NBA coach Don Nelson and contributors Dick Vitale, Vic Bubas and Bill Davidson complete the list of finalists from the North American Screening Committee, while the Veterans' Screening Committee finalists are player Richie Guerin and contributor Johnny "Red" Kerr.
The International Committee candidates included on this year's ballot are coach Togo Soares and player Maciel Ubiratan Pereira from Brazil, while coach Cathy Rush is the lone Women's Committee candidate.
This year's Hall of Fame class will be announced on Monday, April 7 at a news conference prior to the men's NCAA Tournament championship game in San Antonio.
A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Hall of Fame.
Enshrinement ceremonies for the Class of 2008 are scheduled to take place from September 4-6 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Olajuwon burst onto the basketball scene at the University of Houston, where he led the Cougars to three straight Final Four appearances from 1982-84. He continued his success at the pro level in the same town with the Houston Rockets, winning back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and '95.
A two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Olajuwon still holds the NBA record for blocked shots with 3,830 and is the only player to record more than 3,000 blocked shots and 2,000 steals in a career. He was also a five-time member of the NBA All-Defensive First Team, a six-time All-NBA First Team performer and the 1994 NBA MVP. He recorded 26,946 points and 13,748 rebounds in 18 NBA seasons, good for ninth and 14th respectively on the all-time NBA leader board.
Ewing took Georgetown to three Final Fours in his four collegiate seasons from 1982-85, and denied Olajuwon an NCAA title in the 1984 championship game. He was the 1986 NBA Rookie of the Year with the New York Knicks, won Olympic gold medals in 1984 and '92, and earned 11 All-Star Game nods.
A member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary Team, Ewing scored 24,815 points during his 17-year NBA career to go along with 11,607 rebounds. He was unable to secure an NBA title, however, as he and the Knicks lost to Olajuwon and the Rockets in 1995 NBA Finals and to the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 Finals.
Riley, meanwhile, won five NBA crowns as a head coach -- four with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat. A three-time NBA Coach of the Year, he is still active as head coach of the Heat and currently ranks third on the all-time NBA wins list behind Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens and fellow finalist Don Nelson.
Nelson, also still coaching with the Golden State Warriors, was previously a finalist in 2006. He is also a three-time NBA Coach of the Year winner.
Mullin, a finalist last year, was a five-time NBA All-Star and collegiate standout at St. John's, where he is still the all-time scoring leader and was named Big East Player of the Year an unprecedented three times. A two-time Olympic gold medalist (1984, 1992), Mullin played 16 NBA seasons for Golden State and Indiana, amassing 17,911 points.
Dantley is up for election for the seventh consecutive year. He was a two-time All-America at Notre Dame and had a stellar 15-year NBA career with the Buffalo Braves, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks. A six-time NBA All-Star, his 23,177 career points still ranks 23rd all-time in league annals.
Johnson was previously a finalist in 1999, 2003 and 2005. Considered one of the best defenders of his era, Johnson earned nine straight NBA All-Defensive Team honors during his 14-year career with Seattle, Phoenix and Boston. He led the Sonics to the 1979 NBA title, earning Finals MVP honors, and helped the Celtics to NBA crowns 1984 and '86.
Vitale, a finalist in 2004 and '06, is one of college basketball's great voices. He has been the top analyst for ESPN since its inception in 1979 and was a successful coach on the high school, college and pro levels.
Bubas, previously a finalist in 2003, helped North Carolina State reach the NCAA Final Four as a player in 1950, then landed the head coaching position in 1959 at Duke, where he led the Blue Devils to three Final Fours in 1963, '64 and '66. As commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference from 1976-1990, Bubas played a key role in the NCAA's adoption of both the three-point line and the 45-second shot clock.
Davidson, a finalist last year, has been an owner of the Detroit Pistons since 1974 and the WNBA's Detroit Shock since 1998. The Detroit native has served as Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors and his Pistons have won three NBA crowns.
Guerin, in his second year as a finalist, was a six-time NBA All Star (1958-1963) and accumulated 14,676 points, 4,278 rebounds and 4,211 assists during a pro career with the Knicks (1956-63), St. Louis Hawks (1963-67) and Atlanta Hawks (1968-70).
Kerr, a finalist in 2004, '05 and '06, has dedicated more than 60 years of his life to the game of basketball as a player, coach, executive and broadcaster. A three-time NBA All Star (1956, 1959, 1963) and a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals, Kerr has served as color commentator for the Chicago Bulls since 1975.
Soares, a first-time finalist, is widely considered the greatest coach in South American basketball history. He coached the Brazilian national team from 1951 to 1971 and led Brazil to five medals in the World Championships, including gold in 1959 and 1963, and managed a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympic Games.
Pereira, also a finalist for the first time, is widely considered one of the greatest players in South American basketball history. A member of three Brazilian Olympic teams, Ubiratan led his countrymen to the bronze medal at the 1964 Olympic Games.
Rush, previously a finalist five times, led Immaculata University to three consecutive AIAW national championships from 1972 to 1974. Rush propelled Immaculata, and women's basketball, into the national spotlight when the Mighty Macs appeared on national television in 1975, a first for women's basketball. She won 149 games and lost only 15 in just seven seasons, good for a .908 winning percentage.
