NEW YORK: Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies for the late Kobe Bryant and other 2020 inductees have been postponed to May 13-15, 2021 due to COVID-19 issues, officials announced.
The organization had been trying to set up an October 2020 date for ceremonies, which will be staged at Mohegan Sun in 2021.
Former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Bryant, a five-time NBA champion who was killed in a January helicopter crash, is set to be inducted as part of the Class of 2020.
Others set to join him next May include former San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Women’s NBA star Tamika Catchings and two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich.
“For this single event, and only because of the pandemic, we will relocate the entire event one time to Mohegan Sun, which has been a long-time marketing partner of the hall,” said Hall of Fame president John Doleva.
“Mohegan Sun has shown they can effectively operate a ‘near-bubble’ for our event which provides a more secure environment for our guests.”