The 2020 edition of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The induction ceremony, which was set to honor the late basketball icon Kobe Bryant, has been pushed to 2021 because of the novel coronavirus.
The enshrinement ceremonies for the star-studded Hall of Fame Class of 2020 also includes Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
Hall of Fame honcho Jerry Colangelo told ESPN that the ceremonies, originally scheduled for August 28 to 30, with proposed alternate dates of October 10 to 12 are “just not feasible” in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis that has killed over 100,000 Americans and has made mass gatherings basically impossible.
Colangelo disclosed that the Hall of Fame’s board of governors will hold a meeting on June 10, 2020, to figure out dates for the spring of 2021 for the ceremonies.
The event was supposed to be held at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts and now Colangelo said that there are now plans of moving it to a bigger venue better suited for social distancing, but the powers that be have made the decision to wait until next year.
