Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol brought a European flavor to the Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement.
Fans waved a German flag and chanted Nowitzki’s name when the former Dallas Mavericks star walked the red carpet into Symphony Hall on Saturday night for the ceremony.
The Class of 2023 brought a distinctly international flavor to the basketball hall.
Nowitzki was the first European-born player to win the NBA MVP award, in 2007. Parker’s NBA Finals MVP award that year was the first for a European. In 2002, Gasol was the NBA’s first international rookie of the year.
The Spurs were well represented, too, led by longtime coach and five-time NBA champion Gregg Popovich, and Parker, the point guard on four of those title-winning teams. Becky Hammon, who after a career in the WNBA joined the Spurs as the first woman to serve as a full-time NBA assistant coach, was also honored. Gasol played his last two healthy seasons with the Spurs.
“Coach Pop — it starts with him,” Parker said.