INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever great Tamika Catchings will be inducted into the 2020 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Catchings, who played 15 seasons with the Fever and was named the 2011 WNBA MVP and led the team to the 2012 WNBA championship, played college basketball at the University of Tennessee and won four Olympic gold medals with Team USA. She currently works as the Fever's general manager and vice president of basketball operations.
“I am incredibly honored to be included in this year’s Naismith Hall of Fame, and God only knows the dreams I had as a little girl to be able to follow in my father's footsteps,” Catchings, a 10-time WNBA All-Star, said in a release from the Fever. “I am so thankful to stand alongside so many amazing men and women that have come before me.”
In addition to Catchings, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, coaches Eddie Sutton, Rudy Tomjanovich, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens and FIBA executive Patrick Baumann are members of the 2020 hall of fame class, which be enshrined Aug. 29 in Springfield, Mass.
In February, Catchings was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
“Tamika is a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word, someone whose success on the court and generosity off it have made her such an important figure in our sport,” Pacers Sports & Entertainment Chairman and CEO Herb Simon said. "She is what young players aspire to be, and it is fitting that she is being recognized in this very special way. We're so proud that she's a part of our PS&E family, and I congratulate her on this amazing accomplishment."
She was named to the WNBA Top 20 Players in the leagues 20-year history in 2016. In her 14-year career she was a 10x All-Star, 4x Olympic gold medalist and all-time leaders in steals. We congratulate WNBA Champion Tamika Catchings. #20HoopClass pic.twitter.com/quUSIhz1lL
— Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) April 4, 2020
