Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon has been named a first-time finalist for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The 89-year-old Simon, who has guided the franchise since 1983 when he bought it with his brother Mel Simon for $11 million, was one of 14 finalists named on Friday during an All-Star Weekend event inside the Colts locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Mel Simon passed away in 2009.
Also among the finalists: player Vince Carter, who spent a record 22 seasons in the league; four-time WNBA champion Seimone Augustus; former Detroit Pistons guard and current Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups; former Los Angeles Lakers guard Michael Cooper; Phoenix Suns all-time leading scorer Walter Davis; and former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan.
There are three nominees as contributors — Simon; former player and coach Doug Collins; and NBA legend and Lakers executive Jerry West, who was enshrined as a player in 1980.
“Every year is new. Every year is different. We’re very happy with this group,” said Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Naismith Hall of Fame. “And hopefully, we’re going to have great results in terms of voting.”
The Simon brothers founded the shopping center development firm Melvin Simon & Associates in 1960. The firm has evolved over the decades into the publicly traded retail real estate behemoth Simon Property Group Inc., which as of Friday had a market capitalization of $56.2 billion.
In 1983, the previous owners of the Pacers started shopping the team, fresh off of an abysmal season in which the team sold just 1,255 season tickets and averaged only 4,000 fans.
The Simons stepped in to buy the team and keep it in Indianapolis.
“The Simon family did a remarkable thing, to step in and really cause that to happen,” said David Fricke, deputy mayor of Indianapolis, at the time of the deal. “They had plenty of other things to occupy their time, but they stepped forward and saved the Pacers.”
The final voting takes place in the coming weeks, with the Class of 2024 set to be unveiled at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 6. The class will be enshrined on Aug. 17 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Other finalists include Charles Smith, the winningest high school head coach in Louisiana history; former Kansas coach Marian Washington; Australian guard Michele Timms; three-time NAIA champion at Tennessee A&I Dick Barnett; and six-time AAU champion coach Harley Redin.
Washington, Redin and Timms are all already in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Timms is also a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Colangelo said he was pleased to see diversity within the group of finalists — men, women, big-name players and small-college coaches among them.
“It’s an honor that reflects not only individual greatness but also the long-lasting impact on the game itself,” Colangelo said of being a finalist. “From the strategic brilliance of coaches to the unmatched abilities of players and the influential roles of a coach-broadcaster, an esteemed owner, and a dynasty-building executive, each finalist embodies the pinnacle of basketball excellence.”
There were other honorees revealed by the Hall on Friday as well.
JoAn Scott, the NCAA’s vice president of men’s basketball, received the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been with the NCAA since 2013 after time at Nike and USA Basketball – where, among other duties, she was the staff administrator for the original Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Also announced Friday were the recipients of this year’s Curt Gowdy Awards, named for the legendary broadcaster and given to those deemed to have made “a significant contribution to the game of basketball.”
J.A. Adande, the director of sports journalism at his alma mater Northwestern, received the Curt Gowdy Award for print journalism. Longtime analyst and television commentator Debbie Antonelli won for electronic journalism. Slam Magazine and the television show “NBA Inside Stuff” received the award for transformative media. They will also be honored during Hall of Fame weekend.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Wait…..Jerry West isn’t inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as an Executive?!?!
Herb Simon is a joke
But Murray, a very successful one who has done more for Indianapolis than, well, you.
I take exception to the remark, Murray R. He kept the Pacers in Indianapolis…I also agree with Brent B…Herb Simon has done so much for the city…I thank him and his family.