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Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony: Start time, channel, how to watch and stream

Villanova’s Jay Wright is among the 16 inductees tonight, and will be presented by some Philly hoops legends

Villanova head coach Jay Wright, seen here in 2018, will be one of 16 inductees to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday night.
Villanova head coach Jay Wright, seen here in 2018, will be one of 16 inductees to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday night.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

Villanova men’s basketball coach Jay Wright will take his spot along the game’s greats when he is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday night.

“When I got the call, it was stunning, it was emotional,” Wright told The Inquirer. “It’s very humbling and something I’m trying to come to grips with right now, to be honest.”

Of course, it should not have come to much surprise to the well-dressed Wright, who remains one of the greatest head coaches in college basketball history. During his 27-year coaching career — 20 at Villanova and seven at Hofstra — Wright has won 612 games and two national championships in 2016 and 2018. And there are no signs he plans on calling it quits anytime soon.

» READ MORE: Jay Wright has been worth watching long before he was a Hall of Famer

Wright, 59, will join 15 other Hall of Fame inductees during a ceremony on Saturday night that will air on NBA TV beginning at 7 p.m, though the network’s coverage will start with a red carpet show at 6 p.m. hosted by Matt Winer alongside Kristen Ledlow, Steve Smith and Stephanie Ready.

Presenting Wright will be three Hall of Famers with deep ties to Philadelphia basketball — former Sixers great Charles Barkley, soon-to-be-retired Thomas Jefferson University coach Herb Magee, and Delco coaching legend George Raveling.

A number of well-known former NBA players will be inducted alongside Wright, including Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Chris Webber, and Ben Wallace (who will be presented by former Sixers coach Larry Brown). Among the other headliners are former NBA coach Rick Adelman, two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith and three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson.

Another notable inductee is NBA legend Bill Russell, who was first inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975 as a player. He’s being voted in again for his coaching career, in part because he became the first Black head coach in NBA history when he took over the Celtics job in 1966. Russell will be just the fifth person to be elected into the Hall of Fame as a player and a coach (John Wooden, Bill Sharman, Lenny Wilkens, and Tom Heinsohn are the other four).

NBA legend Michael Jordan will also be on hand for the event as a presenter for former Bulls teammate and golfing buddy Toni Kukoč. It might be an awkward moment, as Kukoč’s other presenter is Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who was painted in an unfavorable light in Jordan’s ESPN documentary The Last Dance for breaking up the team after the 1998 season.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream tonight’s ceremony:

2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony

  1. When: Saturday, Sept. 11

  2. Where: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Mass.

  3. Time: 7 p.m. Eastern

  4. Channel: NBA TV

  5. Streaming: NBA.com and the NBA App (cable authentication required)

2021 Hall of Fame inductees and presenters

  1. Val Ackerman, presented by Russ Granik and Rick Welts

  2. Rick Adelman, presented by Vlade Divac and Jack Sikma

  3. Chris Bosh, presented by Ray Allen and Pat Riley

  4. Bob Dandridge, presented by Oscar Robertson

  5. Cotton Fitzsimmons, presented by Charles Barkley, Jerry Colangelo, and Phil Knight

  6. Howard Garfinkel, presented by John Calipari, Grant Hill, and Bobby Hurley

  7. Yolanda Griffith, presented by Van Chancellor

  8. Lauren Jackson, presented by Sheryl Swoopes

  9. Clarence Jenkins, presented by Wayne Embry

  10. Toni Kukoč, presented by Michael Jordan and Jerry Reinsdorf

  11. Pearl Moore, presented by Sylvia Hatchell

  12. Paul Pierce, presented by Kevin Garnett

  13. Bill Russell, presented by Charles Barkley, Julius Erving, Spencer Haywood, Alonzo Mourning, Bill Walton, and Rick Welts

  14. Ben Wallace, presented by Larry Brown

  15. Chris Webber, presented by Isiah Thomas

  16. Jay Wright, presented by Charles Barkley, Bill Cunningham, Herb Magee, and George Raveling

» READ MORE: Paul Pierce discusses NBA myth involving the bathroom and a wheelchair

Recent Hall of Fame classes

  1. 2020: Patrick Baumann, Kobe Bryant, Tamika Catchings, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, Eddie Sutton, Rudy Tomjanovich

  2. 2019: Al Attles, Carl Braun, Charles “Chuck” Cooper, Vlade Divac, Bill Fitch, Bobby Jones, Sidney Moncrief, Jack Sikma, 1957-59 teams from Tennessee A&I, 1948-82 teams from Wayland Baptist University, Teresa Weatherspoon, Paul Westphal

  3. 2018: Ray Allen, Maurice Cheeks, Charles “Lefty” Driesell, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Tina Thompson, Dino Radja, Charlie Scott, Ora Mae Washington, Rod Thorn, Rick Welts, Katie Smith

  4. 2017: Robert Hughes, Tracy McGrady, Bill Self, Rebecca Lobo, Muffet McGraw, Mannie Jackson, Tom Jernstedt, Jerry Krause, Zack Clayton, Nick Galis, George McGinnis