Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Gregg Popovich headline the list of finalists for the 2023 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

"I love the class," Jerry Colangelo, chairman for the Hall of Fame, said in a news conference. "I think this is a loaded class. ... I think this is unique in that we have a lot of first time people and it's unusual when somebody makes it on the first ballot. But this is going to be that unique of class. Because there could be four or five first timers. So, I'm very excited about it."

Other player finalists included former Spurs point guard and 2007 Finals MVP Tony Parker; Becky Hammon, a six-time All-Star in her WNBA career; and Jennifer Azzi, a collegiate national champion at Stanford, an Olympic gold medalist for USA Basketball in 1996 and a five-year WNBA veteran.

Induction is determined through voting conducted by an honors committee comprised of 24 members. A finalist must receive a minimum of 18 votes from the committee to earn entrance to the Hall.

Nikola Jokic is the runaway leader in the second ESPN NBA MVP Straw Poll for the 22-23 season with 77 out of 100 first place votes and 913 total points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished second and had 11 first place votes, while Joel Embiid round out the top-3.

NBA MVP Straw Poll 2.0 Results
1. Nikola Jokic: 913
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 552
3. Joel Embiid: 490
4. Jayson Tatum: 410
5. Luka Doncic: 218
6. Ja Morant: 8
7. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 4
8. Donovan Mitchell: 4
9. Stephen Curry: 1
10. Kevin Durant: 1 

Derrick White and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have been named the NBA's Players of the Week for Week 17.

White averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds as the Boston Celtics went 4-0.

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.3 points and 6.3 assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder went 2-1.

Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been named the NBA's Players of the Week for Week 16.

Lillard averaged 38.3 points, 6.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers went 3-1.

Antetokounmpo averaged 41.0 points, 17.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists as the Milwaukee Bucks went 3-0.

Paolo Banchero and Keegan Murray have been named the NBA's Rookies of the Month for January.

Banchero averaged 20.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

Murray averaged 14.0 points and 5.9 rebounds.

Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic have been named the NBA's Players of the Month for January.

Embiid averaged 34.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks as the Philadelphia 76ers went 11-3.

Jokic averaged 24.0 points, 11.6 rebounds and 11.3 assists as the Denver Nuggets went 12-4.