Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey elected to Basketball Hall of Fame

Barbara Stevens also honored

A trio of women’s basketball icons have gained induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, in an honor first reported by longtime women’s basketball reporter Mel Greenberg.

For Catchings, the honor comes following a remarkable fifteen-year career with the Indiana Fever, one that included five Defensive Player of the Year Awards, 10 WNBA all star appearances, and both a WNBA MVP in 2011 and WNBA Finals MVP in 2012, the latter coming in Catchings’ WNBA title run in Indiana.

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Catchings hold the WNBA record for career win shares, more than 20 percent ahead of any other player. She also excelled during a collegiate career at Tennessee, playing for Pat Summitt.

As for Mulkey, she won both an AIAW and NCAA championship as a player. But her true glory has come during her coaching career at Baylor, where she’s managed to win NCAA championships in three seasons, including the last one in 2019. Her 2013 Lady Bears finished 40-0.

Barbara Stevens has won more than 1,000 games at the Division I and II level, helming Clark University, UMass, and since 1986, Bentley.

All eight finalists for this year’s Hall of Fame were inducted, including women’s basketball enthusiast Kobe Bryant, who also played basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers.

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