Wallace, Webber highlight Basketball Hall of Fame finalists

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (UPI) — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame released its 2019 finalists Friday during NBA All-Star Weekend. This year’s list includes 13 total individuals and four first-time finalists in four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace, five-time All-Star Paul Westphal, seven-time All-Star Jack Sikma and Marques Johnson. Previous finalists included this year are five-time All-Star Chris Webber, all-time winningest high school coach Leta Andrews, 28-year NBA referee Hugh Evans, two-time NBA Coach of the Year Bill Fitch, eight-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member Bobby Jones, five-time NBA All-Star Sidney Moncrief, five-time Division II National Coach of the Year Barbara Stevens, four-time National Coach of the Year Eddie Sutton and five-time WNBA All-Star Theresa Weatherspoon. Wallace played with the Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers and finished his career in 2012. He was a four-time All-Star selection and won an NBA title with the Pistons in 2004. He is one of two players in league history to win four Defensive Player of the Year awards. Webber spent time with the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers and Pistons. He won the 1994 Rookie of the Year award and averaged more than 20 points per game in nine consecutive seasons (1994-2003). He ended his career in 2008. Weatherspoon is one of three women chosen as finalists, and the only former player. She was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and became the first WNBA player to record 1,000 points and 1,000 assists. She spent seven seasons with the New York Liberty before wrapping up her career with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2004. Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. The Class of 2019 will be announced at a press conference during the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Minneapolis, Minn. Reporting by Connor Grott