Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett To Form ‘Greatest Basketball Hall Of Fame Class Ever’

Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett are going to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The three NBA household names will lead nine inductees of the Class of 2020, which is said to become arguably the greatest basketball HOF class in history.

Joining them at the enshrinement ceremonies on Aug. 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts are 10-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, Bentley University coach and five-time Division II coach of the year Barbara Stevens, four-time NCAA coach of the year Eddie Sutton, former Houston Rockets coach and two-time NBA champion Rudy Tomjanovich, and former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann.

The induction is nothing short of meaningful for each name, especially for Bryant and his family as the announcement came just about two months removed from the Los Angeles Lakers legend's tragic death in a crash in California that also took the life of his daughter Gianna.

"It's definitely the peak of his NBA career, and every accomplishment that he had as an athlete was a steppingstone to be here," Vanessa Bryant said of his husband Kobe – a five-time NBA champion and a former MVP - in a video interview with ESPN on Saturday. "Obviously we wish that he was here with us to celebrate. We're incredibly proud of him. And there's some solace in knowing that he was probably going to be a part of the 2020 Hall of Fame class."

Meanwhile, the numbers gathered by Hoops Hype appear to back up the claim that the Class of 2020 could really go down as the GOAT.

“Could this be the single greatest Hall-of-Fame class of all time? Well, according to what the numbers have to say about that, the answer is a clear and resounding yes.,” Frank Urbina wrote.

Based on the data, Bryant, Duncan and Garnett account for 144 major awards – an insurmountable advantage over the Class of 2009, bannered by Michael Jordan, which has 120. The Class of 2010 comes in at third with 2010.

"It's kind of the end of the journey here," Duncan, a five-time NBA champion, told ESPN. "It was an incredible career that I enjoyed so much. To call it a dream come true isn't doing it any justice, because I never dreamt I would be at this point. I played the game, enjoyed the game, loved what I did, and to be here now with the guys I will be put in the Hall of Fame with is just an amazing class."

Garnett, who also has a title and MVP in his resume, was emotional as well. "This is the culmination. All those hours ... this is what you do it for, right here. For me, to be called a Hall of Famer, is everything."