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What a night it was for the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees.16 former basketball personalities, including the likes of Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Bill Russell and Yolanda Griffith, were bestowed with basketball’s ultimate honor on Saturday night in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Pierce, Webber and Ben Wallace join former NBA legends such as Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and a host of other big names to have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The induction comes having after immense hard work over the course of their NBA careers and stacking up team and individual awards and accomplishments.
With this perspective, we take a look at five NBA players under the age of 25 who are destined to make it to the Hall of Fame.
#1 Zion Williamson (Age 21)
Williamson was the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft Class. Although injury limited him to just 24 games in his rookie season, Williamson delivered on his potential in his second NBA season. Williamson averaged 27.0 ppg shooting 61.1% from the field, which earned him his first All-Star nod.
Williamson’s performance in the 2020-21 season was so good that he ranked first among all the 38 players who averaged more than 25.0 ppg in a single NBA season since the three-point line came to the NBA. The lad is destined to go into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
#2 Luka Doncic (22)
Drafted third overall in the 2018 NBA Draft Class, Luka Doncic has already proved that he is a special player. From winning EuroLeague MVP in 2018 to being 2019 Rookie of the Year to becoming an All-Star in two of his three NBA seasons, Doncic has delivered on all the talk about his potential.
From hitting game-winners to posting record-breaking stats in crunch playoff situations, Doncic has the capability to finish as the greatest non-American NBA player ever. And although he has just two postseason appearances to his credit, he is averaging an incredible 33.5 ppg, 9.5 apg and 8.8 rpg over 13 playoff games. He is simply awesome.
#3 Trae Young (22)
For those who thought the Dallas Mavericks got the better of the Atlanta Hawks when the latter traded Luka Doncic to get Young, the 2021 postseason was a real eye-opener. Young went about the 2021 Playoffs in real style, leading the Hawks past the New York Knicks and then stunning the top-ranked Philadelphia 76ers. He averaged 28.8 ppg and 9.5 apg in his debut postseason showing, giving the Hawks fans a lot to cheer about.
Over a three-year NBA career, Young has already been an All-Star (2020) once. He averaged a career-best 29.6 ppg in 2019-20, finishing only behind James Harden, Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard that season.
He has also finished in second position in assists averages in the last two seasons behind veterans like LeBron James (2019-20) and Russell Westbrook (2020-21). Although listed at a relatively diminutive 6-1, Young has the heart of a champion. We expect him to be great.
#4 Jayson Tatum (23)
Jayson Tatum was only 19 years old when he played his first NBA game in October 2017. It was also the game where Gordon Hayward broke his leg. Since then Tatum has made two All-Star appearances and won an Olympic gold with Team USA in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
In 2020-21, Tatum posted a career-best 26.4 ppg in what was just his fourth NBA season. Tatum is also the only player besides Larry Bird to score 60 points in a single regular-season game for the Celtics. Tatum hit his career-best against the San Antonio Spurs in April 2021. Sharing a milestone with Bird surely puts Tatum on the path to greatness.
#5 Devin Booker (24)
Booker, too, won a gold medal with Jayson Tatum in Tokyo 2021. He has averaged more than 25.0 ppg over the last three NBA seasons and has been an All-Star for the last two NBA seasons. He carried the Phoenix Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals, giving the franchise their first ever NBA Finals appearance since 1993.
Booker has also scored the most points in a single NBA game (70) since Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. Booker brought up his historic game against the Boston Celtics when he was just 20 years old and in only his second NBA season. Over the course of the next decade, we expect to see him scale many more peaks.
Also read: Top 5 NBA Hall of Fame induction speeches ever
Guess the Lakers players!
