2024 Hall of Fame: Celebrating the journeys of 4 NBA icons

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The class of 2024, which will be honored this weekend at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Museum, does not have a GOAT. There isn't a Mt. Rushmore guy among NBA legends, not even a top-15 or top-20 player among them.

All of this is a testament to the depth of the greatest players of all time that the NBA has produced. There is plenty of excellence and superlatives in this group of four North American Committee inductees, out of a total of 13 to be honored at Sunday's Hall ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts.

One of the men, Chauncey Billups, made a name for himself through perseverance and leadership of an unlikely championship team. Another, Vince Carter, was a paragon of longevity, lasting 22 seasons while combining two dramatically different styles.

Michael Cooper waited 34 years for this weekend after he played his final NBA game, a length of time some voters may have needed to appreciate the selfless, tireless brand of defense he brought to one of the most entertaining offensive teams in basketball history bestowed, should be fully appreciated.

As for Walter Davis, his career fell out of the spotlight due to injuries, substance abuse, and a decline in the quality of his Phoenix Suns teams. But as a shooter and goal scorer, he burst onto the NBA scene with a level of success and consistency that is rarely found.

The Hall of Fame extends its arms wide to honor players, coaches and others who achieve success in the game at various levels: professional, college, high school and international. These four have earned their share of immortality almost entirely through their work in the NBA.

Chauncey Billups

• Career overview: “Late Bloomer” is a good way to describe Billups’ NBA career. He was the No. 3 pick in the 1997 draft and was traded by Boson four months into his rookie season, largely because he wasn't Tim Duncan (the Celtics were upset after losing the lottery). The 1.90 meter tall point guard from Colorado played for five different teams and a total of seven different franchises in his first six seasons. He was traded five times, signed elsewhere as a free agent four times and released once. He will have a permanent home in Springfield.

• Hall of Fame References: Counting statistics says nothing about the impact of Billups. In his 17-year career, he ranks 24th all-time in 3-pointers made and 25th in 3-point attempts, 51st in assists and 63rd in free throws. But starting in his ninth season, he made five All-Star teams and landed on the second or third All-NBA squad three times. He earned All-Defensive Second Team honors twice and finished in the top six in MVP voting twice. Added to this were his 146 playoff games, including two finals.

• Most memorable moment: Billups coach Larry Brown reportedly interrupted after Game 2 of the 2004 Finals, which was played in the old 2-3-2 home/away format. After two games at Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena), the score was tied 1-1. Billups told the Pistons' bus, “We're not coming back to LA.” And they didn't, winning the next three games in Detroit to beat the heavily favored Lakers. The aging Lakers had big names, but the Pistons had a cohesive ensemble that included Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace. Their defense was their star of the series, and Billups was named Finals MVP after averaging 21 points and 5.2 assists on 50.9% overall shooting, 47.1% three-point shooting percentage and 92.9 shooting percentage % scored from the line.

Vince Carter

• Career Summary: “Half human, half amazing!” with just a dash of giant tortoise or Timex. Carter, the No. 5 pick in 1998, was traded on draft night for UNC teammate Antawn Jamison and then played — and played and played — a record-breaking 21 seasons (six more than Jamison). Only three players have made it past 20, with LeBron James set to reach Carter's mark with his first appearance of the 2024-25 season. But of Carter's 1,541 games, 959 came after he turned 30 – more than Jerry West, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and several other legends played. Carter's remarkable longevity didn't end until March 11, 2020 – and that took global COVID-19 lockdowns.

• Hall of Fame References: Carter's tenacity and ability to secure roster spots and contracts with eight franchises has become popular. But at the start of his NBA career, he shot across the sky like a meteor. His eight All-Star selections came before his age-30 season, at which point he averaged 24.1 points per game. The 1999 Rookie of the Year made the All-NBA in his second and third seasons with Toronto. In Carter's last nine seasons, he averaged 8.5 ppg on various benches and finished in the top 15 of the Kia Sixth Man poll three times.

• Most memorable moment: He retired at 43, but Carter was just 23 when he took over the dunk contest at All-Star Weekend in 2000. His repertoire of high-profile plays made him a household name in not one but two countries and led to comparisons to another former Tar Heel, Michael Jordan. Carter was the Raptors' first All-Star, the first star to lead them to the playoffs and to a playoff series win, but nothing could top his stunning performance in Oakland.

Michael Cooper

• Career overview: One could argue that Cooper filled his role more fully (and certainly more successfully) than any other supporting player in NBA history. He started just 94 of 873 games in 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and averaged just 8.9 points – fewer than every Hall inductee after the NBA/ABA merger except Dennis Rodman (7.3) and Ben Wallace ( 5.7). But it was Cooper's defense that defined him and completed the Lakers' storied “Showtime” era of the 1980s, and only he, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played on all five of LA's NBA championship teams in that series.

• Hall of Fame References: Cooper never made an All-Star team, but he was 6-foot-3, 170 pounds and had quick feet, toughness and outstretched arms HereHe was a prototypical defender who made life difficult for his opponents' top scorers. If you add up the points he subtracted from the performances of the era's top scorers like Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Alex English, George Gervin, Dominque Wilkins and others and moved them to Cooper's side of the ledger using the plus/minus method, his career total of 7,729 could well double. He was selected to All-Defensive teams eight times, was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1986-87 and finished in the top five in voting for that award five times.

• Most memorable moment: Bird clearly called Cooper the best defender he's ever faced, but it was a game in which Cooper added to an offense bigger than most. In Game 2 of the 1987 Finals, Cooper made a then-record six 3-pointers and scored or assisted on all 20 Lakers points in their 20-10 run in the second quarter that sealed the 141-122 victory. Her fifth ring came four games later. Bird finished the game with 23 points and three turnovers in 36 minutes, shooting 9 of 17. Cooper went 7 of 10 for 21 points and three steals in 26 minutes off the bench.

Walter Davis

• Career overview: Davis burst onto the NBA scene as a smooth, sharp-shooting winger for the Suns when he was the No. 5 pick in 1977. He spent his first 11 seasons with Phoenix, most of his last four with Denver, and finished with a 32-game stint in Portland. Davis' career suffered in the mid-1980s due to an injury and an off-court battle with drug addiction, so he sought treatment. The 6-foot-2 North Carolina product never won a ring or reached the NBA Finals, but reached the Western Conference Finals three times. His 15,666 points with the Suns still rank first in franchise history.

• Hall of Fame References: Davis' point average of 24.2 during the 1977-78 season remains one of the highest ever by a rookie. Additionally, his 27.23 points per 36 minutes ranks second all-time among rookies, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 29.19. That made Davis an easy choice for Rookie of the Year. He was named an All-NBA player in his first two seasons and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting both years. He was an All-Star in his first four seasons (six times total) and averaged more than 20 points in six seasons. After retiring in 1992, he ranked 18th on the all-time points list.

• Most memorable moment: Davis was never better than on February 25, 1983 in Seattle. He scored 34 points in the first 47 minutes of the game, hitting all 14 of his field goal attempts and going 6-6 from the line, which would have been the NBA record for most points without a miss. But in the final minute of the game, he went 1-2 and scored 36 points on 15 of 16 shots. His coach in Phoenix, John MacLeod, once said of Davis: “He’s not your average shooter. He is an artist. His sweater is beautiful. If you wanted to teach someone how to shoot the ball, you would tell them, “Do it the way Walter does it.”

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Steve Aschburner has been writing about the NBA since 1980. You can email him here his archive here And Follow him on X.

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