Ten individuals representing a wide range of skills were enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame this weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The key architect of the triangle offense, coach Tex Winter, part of nine NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers was presented by Phil Jackson as was another integral Bull, Dennis Rodman. Rodman, who’d win five NBA championships, three with Chicago and two with Detroit garnered seven straight rebounding titles.
Artis Gilmore began his professional basketball career in 1971 as a member of the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In his rookie season, Gilmore led the ABA in rebounds, blocks and field-goal percentage and earned both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors. 
Gilmore was an All-Star every season of his five-year ABA career and he led the Colonels to the 1975 ABA Championship. Gilmore was also a 6-time NBA All-Star and one of the all-time leaders in field goal percentage.
From the ladies’ game, Teresa Edwards was the first American basketball player to participate in five Olympic games – winning gold in four of them and bronze in the fifth. In college, she was a two-time All-America selection while leading Georgia twice to the Final Four.
Tara Vanderveer has coached Stanford to two NCAA championships and this year became only the fifth Division I head coach to surpass 800 wins. At the International level, she has won Olympic gold in 1996 as well as gold in the Goodwill Games and World University Games. She has been named national coach of the year four times and has guided teams to eight Final Fours
Another coach inducted was Herb McGee who has won more than 900 games at Division II Philadelphia University where he has coached since 1966. His victory count is good for first all-time in NCAA basketball history for any level and winning one NCAA National Championship.
From the global side of the game Ardvidas Sabonias, a former Euroleague Most Valuable Player and a two-time European Player of the Year, had some of the best all round skills for a center. A superb passer, Sabonis played with the Portland Trailblazers between 1995-2001 and 2002-2003.
Winner of Olympic gold and bronze as well as European championship gold with the Soviet Union and Lithuania between 1985 and 1996, it would’ve been a joy to see this talented man perform in the NBA at the height of his considerable game.
From the show biz side of the game, Reece “Goose” Tatum joins the Hall. Before there was Meadowlark Lemon, there was Tatum, the original clown prince of the Harlem Globetrotters, who’d be known as a basketball ambassador around the world for more than a quarter century. Goose began his career in the 1940s as a baseball player for the Birmingham Black Barons and the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro National League.
One of the game’s purest shooters, Chris Mullin also joins. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, the former Dream Teamer put up some impressive numbers over a 16-year NBA career, primarily with the Golden State Warriors – over 17,000 points, 3,000 rebounds and 3,000 assists.
But perhaps the inductee with the most impressive numbers belong to Tom “Satch” Sanders. Sanders was a member of eight Boston Celtics championship teams between 1961 and 1969, playing a critical role in the teams’ legendary defensive success alongside Bill Russell. 
