Hoop Shrine Adds Six

George Gervin and David Thompson finally put their fierce scoring rivalry to rest Monday. They were elected - together - to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The other inductees are UCLA and Lakers star Gail Goodrich, Olympic champion Nancy Lieberman-Cline, the high-scoring George Yardley and the late Kresimir Cosic of Croatia.

The often-controversial Jerry Tarkanian, who owns the best winning percentage among college coaches, was passed over.

The scoring competition between Gervin and Thompson reached its height on April 9, 1978. On the final night of the season, Thompson scored 73 points for Denver to take the lead. A few hours later, Gervin scored 63 for San Antonio, to win the title.

“It’s truly an honor to be going in with David,” Gervin said Monday. “We had quite a few battles.”

Each battled drug trouble, too.

Goodrich led UCLA to its first titles under coach John Wooden in 1964 and 1965, before starring with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lieberman-Cline, an Olympic silver medal winner at 17, helped reshape women’s basketball into a more aggressive, physical game

Known as “Bird,” Yardley scored 2,001 points during the 1957-58 season.