{"id":52437,"date":"2023-08-11T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=52437"},"modified":"2023-08-11T10:49:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T14:49:56","slug":"european-basketball-highlights-hall-of-fame-class-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/08\/11\/european-basketball-highlights-hall-of-fame-class-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"European Basketball Highlights Hall of Fame Class of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The world, specifically the European Leagues, are catching up with the United States of America. While basketball has been dominated by the red, white and blue for decades, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/07\/26\/2023-hall-of-fame-candidates\/\" target=\"_self\">Hall of Fame class of 2023<\/a> is another reminder that European All-Stars are here to stay.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the greatest and most skilled big men <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nowitdi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dirk Nowitzki<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pau Gasol<\/a><\/strong> along with shifty guard <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/parketo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Parker<\/a><\/strong> highlight some of the greatest European players of all time. All the hard work, dedication and championships will finally be immortalized.<\/p>\n<h2>European Basketball Highlights Hall of Fame Class of 2023<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Official Hall of Fame Class of 2023:<\/p>\n<p>Dwyane Wade<br \/>Dirk Nowitzki<br \/>Pau Gasol<br \/>Becky Hammon<br \/>Tony Parker<br \/>Gregg Popovich<\/p>\n<p>Legends \ud83d\ude4c <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bOLFUQFqci\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/bOLFUQFqci<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BleacherReport\/status\/1642184825191776257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>An Unstoppable Fadeaway Finds Its Way Into The Hall of Fame<\/h3>\n<p>If <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duncati01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Duncan<\/a><\/strong> never came into the NBA, Nowitzki might be considered the greatest power forward of all time. The resum\u00e9 speaks for itself.<\/p>\n<p>First, Nowitzki is a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and a 12-time All NBA selection. While he was an MVP for the 2006-07 season, many regard is 2011 season as one of the greatest.<\/p>\n<p>A blockbuster summer that saw <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a><\/strong> join fellow 2023 Hall of Fame inductee <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wadedw01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dwyane Wade<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/boshch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Bosh<\/a><\/strong> on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/MIA\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miami Heat<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/CLE\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> fans remained in shambles and it seemed a championship was inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the Heat lived up to expectations and James was arguably at the peak of his career. Even with the odds against the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/DAL\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, Nowitzki came to play.<\/p>\n<p>The Mavericks pulled off the unthinkable on Nowitzki&#8217;s back and secured a 4-2 series win. Nowitzki helped the Mavericks earn their first NBA title in franchise history along with a Finals MVP trophy.<\/p>\n<p>The 2011 run remains one of the most prestigious title runs in NBA history.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dirk Nowitzki&#39;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Hoophall?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Hoophall<\/a> resume \ud83d\udcca<\/p>\n<p>Watch the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/23HoopClass?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#23HoopClass<\/a> Enshrinement Saturday, August 12th at 8pm\/et on NBA TV \ud83d\udcfa <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hfy1VPQySe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/hfy1VPQySe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1689675473654337536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The Lakers Somehow Managed To Land The Spaniard Sensation<\/h3>\n<p>The mid 2000 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/LAL\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> teams remain easily forgettable. Furthermore, the team was unsure of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryanko01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kobe Bryant<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s future and it seemed a championship was nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the Lakers kept their eye on a Spaniard player on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/MEM\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>. A player that would soon become a household name.<\/p>\n<p>In a blockbuster trade that sent three players and the draft rights of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Gasol<\/a><\/strong> to the Grizzlies, Pau found his new home. Lakers fans were quick to say goodbye to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownkw01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kwame Brown<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/crittja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Javaris Crittenton<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mckieaa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron McKie<\/a><\/strong> for good reason.<\/p>\n<p>Gasol helped the Lakers earn back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. The pair of Gasol and Bryant were unmatched by anything the NBA was able to throw at them.<\/p>\n<p>A lifelong friend for Gasol and the Bryant family is just one of many reasons to give the man his flowers. Gasol ended his career as arguably the greatest Spaniard player of all time.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Pau Gasol&#39;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Hoophall?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Hoophall<\/a> resume \ud83c\udfc6<\/p>\n<p>Watch the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/23HoopClass?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#23HoopClass<\/a> Enshrinement Saturday, August 12th at 8pm\/et on NBA TV. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J5tKxxn6bQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/J5tKxxn6bQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1689732097211252738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>All Of The Spurs Make It Into The Hall<\/h3>\n<p>Joining Duncan and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/ginobma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manu Ginobli<\/a><\/strong> is their trio counterpart Parker. What makes it even more special is seeing Parker join the class with his coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/popovgr99c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gregg Popovich<\/a> and former assistant coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/coaches\/hammobe01w.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Becky Hammon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The French point guard helped put his country on the map for basketball stardom. Nowadays, the league is getting recognized with French talent.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a><\/strong> and newest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/SAS\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a> big man <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wembavi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a><\/strong> now take the reign. Of course, this wouldn&#8217;t have been done without Parker.<\/p>\n<p>Parker ends his career a four-time champion. All of which he won with the Spurs.<\/p>\n<p>Duncan may highlight the Spurs dynasty, but it&#8217;s no fluke Parker won Finals MVP in 2007. In fact, Parker led the Spurs with 24.5 points a game including three games scoring at-least 24 points in a finals sweep.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tony Parker&#39;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Hoophall?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Hoophall<\/a> resume \ud83d\ude4c<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc40: The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/23HoopClass?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#23HoopClass<\/a> enshrinement<br \/>\ud83d\udcc5: Saturday, August 12<br \/>\ud83d\udcfa: 8pm\/et on NBA TV <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/75Fjukq8Kk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/75Fjukq8Kk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1689714480970670080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word On European Basketball<\/h3>\n<p>The impact of these three players lives on into today&#8217;s NBA. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a><\/strong> are the first to come to mind, but many more are sure to prosper.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, fans will get to watch these players for years to come. Although man fans will argue they already belong in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<p>The Hall of Fame is the moment where players are finally recognized for their glory. A moment no one will ever forget.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, it will also be a moment fans will always remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world, specifically the European Leagues, are catching up with the United States of America. While basketball has been dominated by the red, white and blue for decades, the Hall of Fame class of 2023 is another reminder that European All-Stars are here to stay. Some of the greatest and most skilled big men Dirk [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4777,"featured_media":52446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,30,26,34],"tags":[175,161,152,186,55,1215],"class_list":["post-52437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-lakers","category-spurs","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dirk-nowitzki","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-pau-gasol","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-tony-parker"],"modified_by":"Mike Schretter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4777"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}