FIBA to induct Cheryl Miller, Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac in international hall of fame
By APFriday, August 20, 2010
FIBA selects Miller, Sabonis, Divac for hall
GENEVA — Cheryl Miller, Arvydas Sabonis and Vlade Divac will be inducted into the International Basketball Federation’s Hall of Fame.
Seventeen players, coaches and officials will be inducted for their achievements at the Olympic Games, world championships and developing the global game, FIBA announced Friday.
The enshrinement ceremonies Sept. 12 in Istanbul include a presentation on court at the final of the men’s world championship.
“The 2010 class has stardom, character and countless merits for the promotion of our game,” FIBA president Bob Elphinston said in a statement. “The inductees were and still are brilliant on and off the court.”
Miller won 1984 Olympic gold with the U.S., a world title two years later and is believed to be the first woman to dunk in a high school game. Miller won two NCAA championships at USC and later became head coach.
She also became coach and general manager of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Miller, whose brother Reggie played for the Indiana Pacers, is a television commentator for NBA games.
She’s joined in FIBA’s 2010 Hall class by Lithuania-born Natalia Zassoulskaya, who helped the Russian federation team win the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Sabonis and Divac were stars in Europe before joining NBA teams.
Sabonis won Olympic and world titles with the Soviet Union, then led his native Lithuania to two Olympic bronze medals.
He moved to the U.S. at 30, and had two stints with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Divac helped Yugoslavia win two world titles and two Olympic silvers, losing to Sabonis and the Soviet Union in 1988, and at the 1996 Atlanta Games to a United States Dream Team. He is president of Serbia’s Olympic Committee.
He played in the NBA from 1989-05, including twice with the Los Angeles Lakers. He had his No. 21 jersey retired by the Sacramento Kings.
Double Olympic record holder Oscar Schmidt is also being enshrined. The Brazilian is the top scorer in games history, amassing 1,093 points in a record five Olympic tournaments from 1980-96.
Others to be inducted include Italy’s four-time Olympian Dino Meneghin, and Serbian Dragan Kicanovic, a two-time European player of the year who won gold at the 1980 Olympics with Yugoslavia.
