What are the requirements for an NBA Hall of Famer?

Last year’s Hall of Fame ceremony was canceled due to the COVID outbreak. The legendary 2020 (National Basketball Association) NBA Hall of Fame class including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan will finally have their moment as the ceremony is set to happen. 

The Hall of Fame is called the Naismith Hall of Fame dedicated to the inventor of the sport James Naismith. The first class was inducted in 1959 and since then more than 400 players, coaches, contributors, referees, and teams have been inducted. Four individuals have been inducted twice (as a player and as a coach): John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens, Bill Sharman, and Tom Heinsohn. John McLendon has been inducted twice as well but as a player and as a contributor. On three occasions it has happened that there were no players inducted: 1965, 1968 & 2007.

So many basketball individuals inducted so far, but many others missing out on disappointing their fans. So what are the criteria for selecting the class of Hall of Famers? Who selects the new inductees? Let’s check out.

Selection Criteria

To be considered by the screening committees for the induction, the players, coach, referee, or a team must be fully retired for their role for at least three seasons. The period was five years originally but it was changed to four in 2015 and three in 2017. Before 2018, referees were eligible for selection after completing 25 years even if they were active, but it was changed. Coaches become eligible after completing 25 years in coaching a high school team or above. From 2020, new criteria regarding coaches came up. The coaches must be 60 years and meet the 25 years full-time service requirement as well to be considered. The contributors don’t need any “years of service” requirement to be considered. They should have made a ‘significant contribution to the game of basketball’ to be considered. The commentators and sportswriters are elected as full-fledged members of the Hall of Fame.

Committees to elect candidates

As of 2016, six committees screen and elect candidates for induction into the NBA hall of fame. Four committees are employed to screen prospective candidates:

• North American Screen Committee (9 members)
• Women’s Screening Committee (7 members)
• International Screening Committee (7 members)
• Veterans Screening Committee (7 members)

The other two committees were formed in 2011to directly elect one candidate for the class:

• Contributor Direct Election Committee
• Early African-American Pioneers of the Game Committee

Candidates who receive seven votes from the North American Screen Committee and five each from the other three screening committees are eligible to advance to an Honors Committee (12 members + 12 specialists), who vote on each candidate. Any candidate that received 75% of the votes (18 votes) is selected for the NBA Hall of Fame. 

2020 Hall of Fame inductees: