(Reuters) – The Naismith Basketball Memorial Hall of Fame said on Friday the enshrinement ceremony for the Class of 2020, a nine-member group that includes the late Kobe Bryant, will take place May 13 to 15 next year at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
The ceremony for the group, which also includes Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, was initially scheduled for Aug. 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The decision to reschedule enshrinement to May, along with diminished museum guest visitation and a very uncertain future regarding collegiate and high school basketball events, has forced us to make these decisions,” John Doleva, the Hall of Fame’s chief executive, said in a statement.
“For this single event, and only because of the pandemic, we will relocate the entire event one time to Mohegan Sun which has been a long-time marketing partner of the Hall.
“Mohegan Sun has shown they can effectively operate a ‘near-bubble’ for our event which provides a more secure environment for our guests.”
Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, was one of the most dominant players in NBA history. He was killed with his daughter and seven others in a January helicopter crash.
Former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich and 10-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings are among the other members of the highly anticipated Class of 2020.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
