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NBA All-Star Weekend: Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett are HOF finalists

CHICAGO — As expected, the late Kobe Bryant topped a start-studded list of finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett were officially named as finalists for election to the Hall of Fame, ESPN reported. Also named as finalists were 10-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings, former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, Baylor University women’s coach Kim Mulkey, former men’s coach Eddie Sutton and Bentley University women’s coach Barbara Stewart.

Bryant, 41, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people were killed Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

Tomjanovich, who coached the Rockets to NBA titles in 1994 and 1995 and was a five-time All-Star as a Rockets player, the Chicago Tribune reported. Mulkey was the first woman to win NCAA championships as a player, assistant coach and head coach, while Sutton was the first coach to lead four schools to the NCAA Tournament; Stevens is a five-time Division II national coach of the year, the newspaper reported.

Finalists elected to the Hall of Fame will be enshrined Aug. 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Bryant’s death and the three big names atop the Hall of Fame ballot led to the nominating committee changing its rules to limit the Class of 2020 to eight nominees, ESPN reported. The committee also will eliminate direct-elect selections on a one-year trial basis, the cable network reported.

“When the nominees for the Class of 2020 were announced in December, we knew this class had the potential of being one of the most historic of all time,” Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Hall of Fame nominating committee, told NBA.com. “The untimely passing of Kobe Bryant has left us in a state of reflective mourning and we’re proud to honor his legacy while also recognizing seven other individuals who have meant so much to our game. We congratulate our finalists and those who have supported them on their journeys, and we look forward to revealing the Class of 2020 at the Final Four in Atlanta.”