Milwaukee Bucks: Marques Johnson’s Hall of Fame wait goes on
By Adam McGee
As the finalists for the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame were revealed on Friday, Milwaukee Bucks legend Marques Johnson again found himself left to wait.
The Milwaukee Bucks had a prolific couple of years in 2018 and 2019 when it came to Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, but there’s no such luck for any of the franchise’s representatives in 2020.
On Friday night, the Basketball Hall of Fame released the details of the finalists for 2020 enshrinement, along with the names of the special award winners, with few surprises among the final candidates selected.
More from Bucks History
- The 3 biggest “What Ifs” in Milwaukee Bucks’ franchise history
- 6 Underrated Milwaukee Bucks of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era
- Ranking Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10 best Bucks teammates of all time
- How well do you know the Milwaukee Bucks’ top 20 career point leaders?
- Looking at important playoff numbers in Milwaukee Bucks franchise history
Unfortunately, that meant that legendary Bucks point forward and beloved current broadcaster Marques Johnson will not get a chance to take his place in the hallowed halls of Springfield this year.
Back in December, Johnson was named as one of the nominees for this year’s star-studded class, having been a finalist in 2019 and just missing out on making the final cut on that occasion.
This was always going to be a tough year for Johnson and so many other nominees, particularly as Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant all became eligible for the first time.
That trio joined WNBA legend Tamika Catchings as this year’s first time batch of finalists, with the other four returning finalists all being coaches, such as Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, Eddie Sutton, and Rudy Tomjanovich.
Other nominees with Bucks connections who didn’t advance to the finalist stage this season include former coach George Karl, and sharpshooter Dale Ellis.
The long overdue enshrinement of Sidney Moncrief provided plenty of cause for joy for Bucks fans last year, as did Jack Sikma‘s induction into the Hall of Fame.
The hope will be that it’s just a matter of time before Johnson will get to join them in that particularly exclusive club, and add to the wonderful memories he got to forge when his No. 8 jersey was retired by the Bucks last season.
Marques Johnson broke the mold in a variety of ways. dark. Next
The final announcement for this year’s inductees will take place on Saturday, April 4, with the finalists requiring at least 18 votes from the 24-person honors committee in order to be enshrined.