Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant were among official finalists for the 2020 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, Eddie Sutton and Rudy Tomjanovich were also named as finalists. 

The committee also suspended the Direct Election Categories for one year due to the enormity of the top names in this year's class. 

"We've never had a class that strong at the top. And of course with Kobe's death, it added more focus. We thought the way of dealing with it was eliminating some direct-elects on a one-year basis. We have that flexibility, fortunately, to do it because some people could get lost in the shuffle, really, in terms of getting their due," said Colangelo.

Michael Wilbon and Mike Breen were elected to the Hall of Fame as recipients of the Curt Gowdy Media Award.