Steve Nash, two-time NBA MVP and voted one of the league’s 75 greatest players of all time, is among a group of seven who will be inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.
Nash, of Saanich, will be part of the class of 2021 alongside Stewart Granger and Angela (Johnson) Straub.
Three-time NBA champion Rick Fox is the headliner for the Class of 2022 which also includes Michèle Bélanger, John Bitove and Tony Simms.
Canada Basketball will hold the induction ceremony on July 10 in Toronto.
“To be inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame is a great honor and each of this year’s inductees has had a lasting and unique impact on all levels of the sport,” said Michael Bartlett, President and CEO of Canada Basketball, in a statement. .
Nash wore Canada’s colors on the international stage for more than 10 years, including leading the men’s team to the quarter-finals of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was the last time Canada’s men qualified for the Olympics.
Nash was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Fox was among the first Canadian stars in the NBA. His 13-year career, split between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, included three consecutive NBA titles with LA from 2000 to 2002.
Bitove, who enters as a builder, is the founder of the Toronto Raptors and was instrumental in bringing the 1994 FIBA Men’s World Championship to Canada.
Bélanger has coached the University of Toronto women’s Varsity Blues program to 854 wins since taking over the team in 1979.
Granger was the first black Canadian to be drafted into the NBA, chosen 24th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1983.
Straub represented Canada from 1972 to 1977, where she competed at the Pan American Games and the Olympic Games.
Simms represented the men’s national team for 10 years and was a key member of Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the 1983 World University Games in Edmonton. He was also a key member of the 1984 Canadian Olympic team which finished fourth.
The Canadian Press
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