NEW YORK -- Kentucky coach John Calipari and four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dikembe Mutombo are among a group of 12 finalists for the 2015 Basketball Hall of Fame Class.

The Hall of Fame announced its 2015 nominees Saturday at Madison Square Garden, the site of the NBA All-Star Game. The Class of 2015 will be announced April 6.

Calipari and Mutombo are joined by longtime NBA referee Dick Bavetta, five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, three-time All-Star Kevin Johnson, three-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie, Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, seven-time All-Star Jo Jo White, four-time All-Star Spencer Haywood, former NBA coach Bill Fitch and high school coaches Robert Hughes and Leta Andrews as finalists.

Calipari, who also had successful coaching stints at UMass and Memphis, guided Kentucky to the NCAA championship in 2012. His teams have reached the Final Four five times.

"I'm at a loss for words," Calipari said. "I want to thank the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame committee for even considering me. The process is by no means over -- I'm just a finalist at this point -- but to even be mentioned as a finalist among these worthy candidates is an unbelievable honor. I am absolutely humbled by this.

"I want to thank the people at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky for giving Ellen and I an opportunity to coach at three great institutions. I want to thank all the assistants and staff who have worked for us over the years, as well as the people in the community who have added value to our lives. Most importantly, I want to thank all of the players who have let us coach them and all of the parents who entrusted us with their son. Thank you."

Mutombo, an eight-time All-Star and native of Zaire, was overwhelmed to be among the group of finalists.

"Being from Africa, who would have ever though that my name would have been called to the Basketball Hall of Fame?" Mutombo said. "I never dreamed of playing basketball to reach this level."

Johnson, a 12-year NBA veteran and the current mayor of Sacramento, was also surprised to be among the group of finalists.

"You look up there at some of the players and you don't deserve to be in that category," Johnson said. "These are people who, I had their pictures on my walls growing up. Having a chance to stand with them is remarkable."

Ryan has been Wisconsin's coach since 2001 and guided the Badgers to a Final Four appearance last season.

"I'm extremely humbled and honored just to be mentioned with the other names on the nominee list," Ryan said. "The Hall of Fame holds so many revered legends of basketball and many of the individuals who originally sparked my love for the game.

"When I first planted my coaching roots years ago at the junior high level, I did so to be a teacher and help kids like my father did so selflessly. I never had intentions or even thought of being on Hall of Fame lists, but it's quite an honor and I'm grateful to all of the players and coaches who have helped along the way."

The Hall of Fame also announced Saturday that ABA star Louie Dampier, Australian national team coach Lindsay Gaze, former Boston Celtics coach Tom Heinsohn [already elected as a player], former New York Rens player John Isaacs and former college coach and current Nike executive George Raveling have already been elected for induction and will be part of an enshrinement ceremony in August.

In addition to the nominees, the Hall of Fame announced that NBA executive Rod Thorn will receive the John W. Bunn lifetime achievement award. Photographer Rich Clarkson and University of North Carolina broadcaster Woody Durham were named as recipients of the Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Award.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz contributed to this report.

Dikembe Mtumbo in the Hall of Fame!

Love that guy on and off the court.

Well deserved.

Hmmmm...no Kyrie Irving for the Cavs.

I don't want LeBron to win another title anyway, but I have to think Golden State are seriously in the driver's seat.

I had Golden State in 6 before this series started anyway.

Hard to believe after being also-rans for decades the Warriors are staring at a title.

Nobody here cares (though the ratings have been great), but that was one wild game tonight and it proved Cleveland won't go away easy.

I still think Golden State take this, but it will not be easy it seems.

I don't want "Knick" Bavetta in the Hall of Fame.

Hmmm....Le Bron was awesome again and Dellavedova had a damn good g'day mate (that was tribute to the hard-nosed Aussie).

Golden State fell too far behind and made too many boneheaded errors.

Maybe they're too young and inexperienced, I dunno.

But this has been something so far.

Very exciting series so far. Some atrocious officiating though. The NBA even apologized for Game 2.

Agreed.

And last night I was baffled at some of the calls.

Amazing the guys are keeping their cool for the most part.

if the cavs pull this off they might just rename lake erie, lake lebron.

Lebron is a one man wrecking crew. And he looked like he does even in High School. My wife was surprised that he didn't go to college and was drafted right out of high school.

he was remarkable in high school.

they were talking about him when he was a freshman.

he played about 45 miles from where i live....played football too. hell of a tight end.

his high school is one of the better off (financially) catholic high school around, most of them in dire straits, but akron saint vincent. cleveland st. edward, cleveland st ignatius, and cincinnati moeller are also doing quite well....needless to say quite few professional athletes attend those ohio high school athletic factories. most ohio catholic high scools have become athletic factories, i really can't explain why, but it seems to be a trend in thinking in this state right now that if your child is a good athlete you send them to a catholic high school and they will have better odds to get an athletic scholarship to college.

Although I am no Lebron fan after his sickening media display years ago, the guy is a freak of nature when it comes to his mix of desire/athleticism and skill.

He is almost single-handedly willing Cleveland to win.

It's almost like once Irving went down he said to himself, "OK, I guess I will have to be everything to this team and someone else will need to step up that wasn't expected to".

That someone seems to be Dellavedova for now.

I will say if Curry keeps trying to do it all by himself and throwing the ball all over the place it won't matter how many threes he hits.

Golden State looks shattered right now and I may have been very wrong about them.

Let me express my condolences to Pete over the passing of Hall of Famer Moses Malone. Moses may have briefly been a Washington Bullet, but he will always be remembered as a Philadelphia 76er and carrying that team to the 1983 world championship.

Thanks (T) Eddy for posting. I saw that today as well.

Wow, so very sad. Only 60 and he was going to play in a golf tournament the next day. At least it was in his sleep and probably didn't feel pain.

But we feel it, one of the best offensive rebounders ever. How he and the Sixer's swept the Lakers in the finals, 4 straight. One of the most unexpected series results ever.

God Bless you Moses. RIP and Thank you for all those terrific games I'll never forget.



Rick A.

Malone with Dr. J after beating the Lakers in 1983.

Good man, great player.
Rest In Peace.

RIP.

Thanks Teddy.

Been a rough one for Sixers fans as we also lost Daryl Dawkins last month, who was such a good man and neither he nor Moses shall be forgotten.

R.I.P.
to both giant gentlemen.

Sometimes the greatest team isn't one that wins a lot of titles. I'm convinced the 1985 Chicago Bears is the greatest football team of all time, and they made it to the Super Bowl only ONCE. I wouldn't be against Michael Jordan if one of his Bulls teams were to go back in time to play the 1983 Sixers, but I don't think there are many other teams that could do the same. And not even Jordan's Bulls ever mowed through the playoffs the way Moses' "fo'-fo'-fo'" team did. Malone will definitely be missed.

Malone and Dawkins played for the Sixers in the only period I ever cared about NBA basketball. I loved those Sixers, mostly because of Dr. J. Larger than life characters, to be sure, but it's great to hear that both of those guys were great people as well.

I was tempted to post this on a Playroom thread entitled "Jordan Charm" which posted a cute panel from a Hal Jordan Green Lantern comic book. I decided that would hijack the thread, and instead decided to post this here:



Most knowledgable basketball fans will rate Michael Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time. But what kind of man brings his high school basketball coach to his induction speech, not to thank or praise him, but belittle him for not putting him on the varsity team? I think the competitive fires that made MJ one of the greatest athletes of our time also made him the type of man I don't think I'd want to know personally.

Does this speech change your opinion of Michael Jordan the man?

Not at all. I've read FAR worse things about him. He never forgave anybody for any little slight, and he never forgot any. It's what drove him to be the best ever. I think off the court MJ is kind of a jerk, by all accounts I've heard, but it doesn't alter my opinion of him. It's not like he's kicking cripples or something; he just has a huge chip on his shoulder.

(I'm a little scared that like Eddie I was thinking of posting a picture of MJ in the Hal Jordan thread too)

I'd say "Come to the dark side, Jeff!" but honesty forces me to admit that Linda can bake cookies much better than I can.