MONTVILLE, Connecticut — Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings received a huge honor on Saturday.
Catchings is now in the basketball hall of fame. She was part of a nine-member class, which included the late Kobe Bryant, that was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday.
The group got their delayed and long-awaited enshrinement on Saturday night, more than a year after being announced as the hall's Class of 2020.
The other eight finalists selected to join the Hall of Fame include:
- Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant
- San Antonio Spurs player Tim Duncan
- Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets player Kevin Garnett
- Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey
- Bentley University coach Barbara Stevens
- Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton
- San Diego/Houston Rockets player and coach Rudy Tomjanovich
- International Basketball Association executive Patrick Baumann
Catchings was a 10-time all-star, a five-time defensive player of the year, and she's the WNBA's all-time leader in steals. Plus, she won four consecutive Olympic gold medals with Team USA from 2004-2016.
Catchings shared with the crowd how she came to love the sport as a child.
"Basketball chose me, an awkward, lanky introverted tomboy born with a hearing disability a speech impediment and a will to overcome obstacles, dream big and change the world," Catchings said.
She went on to thank her family, coaches and the players she looked up to as a kid.
After spending her entire career with the Indiana Fever, Catchings now serves as the team's general manager.