The Spanish Basketball Hall of Fame held the induction ceremony this Thursday in its third edition, As in the previous ones, it was based at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville, and sixteen new figures joined it, including ten players, two coaches, two referees and two others called ‘contributors’.
This initiative, organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB), which is celebrating the centenary of its foundation, and Diario As, brought together just over three hundred guests and institutional representatives around the new elected officials, among whom was not the German Dirk Nowitzki, who thanked him for his election through a video.
The Hall of Fame project started in 2021 and, with this year’s inductees, it already has 53 members of the history of basketball and representatives of the various groups, to whom the organizers intend to pay tribute with their recognition and memory.
Maljkovic, Unicaja DNA for the Hall of Fame
Of those chosen to appear in it, not only their contribution to the sporting and organizational development of Spanish basketball is taken into account but also, and in a very special way, their work in the dissemination and transmission of the values that this sport embodies.
Those admitted this year have been the Spanish players Pau Gasol, Laia Palau, Felipe Reyes, Margarita ‘Wonny’ Geuer, Fernando Romay and, in memory of her death, Pilar Valero.
Among the international players, Luis Scola, Predrag Danolovic, Dirk Nowitzki and Natalia Zassoulskaya have entered the Hall of Fame, while the coaches have been José Vicente ‘Pepu’ Hernández and Bozidar Maljkovic, who was supported at this event by the club’s ambassadors, Carlos Cabezas and Berni Rodríguez, as well as the former president Ángel Fernández Noriega and the head of marketing, José Carlos Gaspar.
The referees Vicente Sanchís and Ángel Sancha are already in the group of chosen, this one also in memory after his death; in addition to the entities Liga Endesa ACB and Revista Gigantes.
Award from Sergio Scariolo
Bozidar Maljkovic was presented with the recognition by national coach Sergio Scariolo. “I am so happy to be here. My first stay after leaving the legendary Jugoplastika was Barcelona. It’s been a long, long time, time passes quickly, but the important thing is not how old you are but how much time you have left. I must say thanks to the four clubs I was in: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Baskonia and Unicaja. Thanks to their hobbies, managers…,” said Boza.