Bird Leads Nominees For Basketball Shrine Ex-Vandal Johnson, UW Coach Winter Also Nominated For Hall

Former Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird heads the list of eight former players and three coaches nominated for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Joining Bird, the first-year coach of the Indiana Pacers, are former players Larry Costello, Adrian Dantley, Artis Gilmore, Marques Haynes, Gus Johnson, Sidney Moncrief and Chet Walker. Coaches are Alex Hannum, John Thompson and Tex Winter.

Bird, Dantley, Haynes and Walker are first-time nominees. An individual needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election. The class will be announced June 29 and enshrined in October.

Bird played 13 seasons with the Celtics, leading the franchise to championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986. A 12-time All-Star and three-time league MVP, he and rival Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers helped resuscitate the NBA when they joined in 1979, creating one of the fiercest rivalries in NBA history.

Costello played from 1954-68 then coached in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls. A six-time All-Star, he was a member of Philadelphia’s 1966-67 title team.

Dantley, one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, played 15 seasons with seven teams. The 1977 rookie of the year, Dantley is 14th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Gilmore spent five seasons in the ABA and 12 in the NBA. He was the first player taken in the ABA dispersal draft in 1976.

Haynes spent more than 40 seasons with the Harlem Globetrotters and the Magicians, earning international fame as a basketball entertainer and athlete. He joined the Globetrotters in 1946.

Johnson, a former University of Idaho standout, spent 1963-73 with Baltimore, making the Bullets perennial title contenders. The power forward was a four-time All-Star, averaging 17.1 points and 12.7 rebounds.

Moncrief joined the Milwaukee Bucks in 1979 and helped them record the league’s fourth-best winning percentage the next 10 seasons.

Walker played 13 seasons beginning in 1962. A seven-time All-Star, he helped lead the 1967 76ers to the NBA title.

Winter, currently an assistant with the Chicago Bulls, has more than 50 years of coaching at the college (including University of Washington) and pro levels.