Basketball Hall of Fame: Encyclopedia - Basketball Hall of Fame

Basketball Hall of Fame

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame honors players who have shown exceptional skill at basketball, all-time great coaches and referees, and other major contributors to the game. A few entire teams have been inducted as well, including the Buffalo Germans, the New York Renaissance and the Harlem Globetrotters. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's mission preserves and promotes the game at all levels and serves as basketball's ultimate library of history.

It was established in 1959, with fundraising leading to an actual building opened to the public on February 17, 1968, at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. In 1985 a new hall off-campus was opened near downtown Springfield on the east bank of the Connecticut River.

On September 28, 2002, the Hall of Fame found its third home in a new $45 million, 80,000 square foot (7,400 m²) shrine to the sport, located just south of the previous Hall of Fame. The facility's bolder architecture features a large, silver, semi-spherical structure several stories high and a tall spire topped with an orange globe. The hall is surrounded by a shopping center of retail outlets.

• Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Basketball Hall of Fame", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki