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Basketball Hall of Fame inductions a boon for autograph collectors
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inducted 13 new members Oct. 12-13 in Uncasville, Conn. and Springfield, Mass., including late NBA player and executive Jerry West for a record third time.
This year’s festivities were pushed out from the original August dates due to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The hall inducted players Seimone Augustus, Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Michael Cooper, Michele Timms (International Committee) and Walter Davis. The coaches inducted were Bo Ryan (Collegiate) and Charles Smith (High School), while Contributors included Doug Collins, Herb Simon and West. The class also added Veteran Committee selections Dick Barnett (player) and Harley Redin (coach).
The first fan event of the weekend was the Panini autograph session for the 2024 class. About 200 fans lined up for the session, which was scheduled to include all 10 living members. The event cost was $500 or $750 for the premium session, which included first-in-line access and a Class of 2024 basketball. Both price levels allowed one signature per inductee. A few days earlier the Hall of Fame announced that Barnett and Simon would be unable to participate.
And of course, many ticket holders, like me, purchased tickets before the June passing of West.
The items I selected for the autograph session were reflective of the careers and accomplishments of the 2024 class members. The order below is the order they were seated, from first to last, in the Panini session.
First was Timms, the woman’s international player. While Timms was a five-time international champion, two-time international Player of the Year, and three-time Olympian (Australia), I had been working on signatures on two programs from the WNBA’s first All-Star game held at Madison Square Garden in 1999. Timms is now the eighth member of the Basketball Hall of Fame to play in that first WNBA All-Star game, and who have signed these two programs for me.
Second was high school coach Charles Smith, who has over 1,200 wins and still counting. Smith joins recent high school coaches Bob Hurley (class of 2010), Morgan Wootten (2000), and Robert Hughes (2017) in the Hall of Fame. Smith signed a 1000th win mini-basketball for me with the inscription date of Feb. 2, 2018. The ball contains the signature and 1000th win date for Hurley and expected future Hall of Fame high school coaches Gary McKnight (Mater Dei) and Steve Smith (Oak Hill).
Doug Collins was a tough decision. At first I was not sure what to get signed by Collins, since I had multiple signatures on a 1978 All-Star Program cover and a 1977 All-Star game (Milwaukee) LeRoy Neiman poster. These items were from two of his four All-Star Game selections.
Over the years, I also have obtained many signatures on two USA Olympic basketball jerseys, and Collins is a huge part of USA Olympic men’s basketball history. He sank two free throws that put the USA ahead by one point in the 1972 gold medal game against the Soviet Union. The game clock had only 3 seconds left and after the second free throw was made, the clock, by the rules the game was being played under, should have started (live ball). That is where the most controversial Olympic basketball game of all time began and lives on today.
I selected the bulky 1997 Neiman poster for the session, and fortunately was able to get all four of the above items signed over the course of three days. Collins was inducted for his lifelong contributions as a player and coach. He led the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers as a coach.
After Collins was Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan. I am a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, so I am very familiar with Wisconsin basketball. Ryan won over 700 collegiate games, was a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, and led Wisconsin to back-to-back Final Fours in 2014 and 2015. My “History of the Final Four” book was an easy choice for Ryan to sign.
Next in the line were Billups and Augustus. Billups was a five-time NBA All-Star and a key member of the 2004 Detroit Pistons championship team. Billups was named MVP of the 2004 NBA Finals. He played in a remarkable seven straight conference finals.
I selected a NBA Eastern Conference multi-signed jersey for the autograph session, and was able to later have Billups sign a 2004 Finals hat (which I already had Ben Wallace sign at his 2021 induction).
Augustus is a member of the WNBA’s Top 20@20 Team and also a member of the W25 Greatest 25 WNBA players honored in 2021. She earned that honor as a four-time WNBA champion, 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year, and a seven-time WNBA All-Star. Augustus moved up the all-time scoring list faster than only a handful of players, and reached the top 10 on the WNBA career scoring list. She was also a three-time Olympic gold medal winner for Team USA.
I selected a single-signed mini-basketball to add to my collection of the Top 25 WNBA players honored in 2021. I am now at 14 mini-basketballs, so I still have a long way to go to complete that set. I also did get one of my two Olympic jerseys signed the next day.
Vince Carter was the toughest signer of the weekend for the 2024 class. And even with accomplishments so vast, my item to get signed was an easy choice. I had a Carter and Paul Pierce NBA debut ticket already signed by Pierce (2021 HOF autograph session). I was also very lucky to get one more signature from Carter later that evening, and I have to note that I was only able to confirm that he signed two autographs all weekend outside of the autograph session for fans. So my Rookie of the Year Jersey and 2024 Induction Program went home unsigned. Well, actually, the 2024 induction program was signed by the entire class sans Carter.
Carter is known for an array of amazing dunks, but he also also was a great 3-point threat. He is the only player in NBA history to play in four decades. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star, a McDonald’s All-American, a NCAA Final Four player at North Carolina (first with coach Dean Smith), and a USA Olympic gold medal winner.
Last in the session line was Michael Cooper. Cooper played 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and was known for guarding the best players on opposing teams. He was named to the NBA All-Defensive NBA Team eight times. I selected a NBA Western Conference multi-signed jersey for the autograph session.
Outside of the official autograph session, Timms was the best signer of the weekend. She stopped multiple times for fans. Cooper and Collins were also very good at stopping for fans. Simon, the owner of the Pacers and Fever, could not participate in the autograph session, but was a good signer for fans.
Billups and Augustus were less visible to the larger crowds, but also signed for fans on a limited basis. Barnett attended the induction ceremony but his health would not allow for any autographs.
There were over 30 returning Hall of Famers in attendance to help honor the new class. A few of the more gracious returning Hall of Famers who signed were Anne Meyers, Bob McAdoo, and Jerry Colangelo.
The star-studded awards ceremony saw Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson all together in the same room. Jordan was a bit of a surprise guest to me. I did witness Jordan sign two autographs that evening, and I was so close to being a third. No one else had much luck with any of the other three greats of the game at the awards dinner.
Other notable returnees who I got one autograph from over the three days were Reggie Miller, Joe Dumars, Earl Monroe, Billy Cunningham, Lisa Leslie, Theresa Edwards, and Bill Bradley.
My two favorite items I got signed outside of the Panini session were a dual magazine cover featuring Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady, and a Lakers jersey signed by 12 different Los Angeles greats in attendance.
Some other notable guests were Spike Lee, Bill Murray, Bob Igor (Disney), and Billy Crystal. Spike Lee and Billy Crystal were being honored as “superfans.”
Lee was funny when he signed a couple of award programs for me and a friend. He wrote “HOF,” and said that was the first time he had written “HOF.” So we joked and added “1 st” and “2 nd” as well to those programs.
I have to give a final shoutout to the poem read by Simone Augustus as part of her induction acceptance. It showed her talent not just on the court. Please go online and listen to it.
WEST HONORED
On April 6, 2024, Jerry West made history, becoming the first person to be inducted three times into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. West was inducted as a player in 1980, as a member of the 1960 USA gold medal-winning Olympic team in 2010, and in 2024 as a contributor to the game of basketball for his life off the court.
The basketball world mourned the passing of West at age 86 in June.
His accomplishments as an executive were building the Lakers 1980s dynasty, trading for teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, rebuilding the Memphis Grizzles into a 50-win team, and consulting for the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers.
The Hall of Fame and the Lakers paid tribute to West during Induction Weekend. A large contingent of Lakers were in attendance to honor West, including: Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Pat Riley, Bob McAdoo, Jamaal Wilkes, Spencer Haywood, Vlade Divac, Del Harris, Michael Cooper, Michael Thompson, Kurt Rambus, AC Green, Bryon Scott, and many more.
West’s son, Jonnie, spoke on his behalf and talked about his contributions that would live on forever.
Cooper honoring West in his emotional acceptance speech was the moment of the night.
“Finally, at the end of the third round, with the 60th pick in the draft, someone took a gamble with me. You may have heard of him. Jerry West. The logo, the icon of our game. He was a friend and a mentor, and I owe him more than you can ever understand. I miss him more than I can ever express.”
The Lakers will honor West during the 2024-25 season with a black patch with West's No. 44 on their jerseys.
Robert Kunz covers the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Pro Basketball Hall of Fame for Sports Collectors Digest.
