Kobe Bryant induction into Hall of Fame postponed until 2021

Dan Woike
·1 min read
Injured Lakers star Kobe Bryant has been absent from the team's bench in recent weeks.
The late Kobe Bryant will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. (Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE / Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant and the rest of the stellar 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class will have to wait for enshrinement, with the ceremony set to be postponed until early 2021.

Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo said the announcement won’t be formalized until a June 10 board meeting, but the postponement because of the coronavirus pandemic “appears certain.”

Bryant, who died in January, was set to headline a Hall of Fame class alongside Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. The ceremony was originally scheduled for Aug 29.

Colangelo said the Hall would “follow the leader” when it comes to the NBA’s scheduling calendar in scheduling a new date.

“It’s dominoes,” he said. “When does the NBA resume? When does it end? When does the new season begin? When does that end?

“There are so many ramifications.”