SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol brought a European flavor to the Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement.
Fans waved a German flag and chanted Nowitzki’s name when the former Dallas Mavericks star walked the red carpet into Symphony Hall on Saturday night for the ceremony.
Parker’s fans whooped it up when he took the stage to lead off the proceedings. “There are a lot of French people in town. Sorry,” the former San Antonio Spurs point guard said.
Spain was well represented, too, with Gasol shouting out his national team — “mi familia” — before joining what might be the greatest international class of inductees in the Springfield shrine’s history.
“I want to give a special mention to those first Europeans, who came here, across the ocean, who took a chance,” said Gasol, who fell in love with the sport when the 1992 Olympics were held in his hometown, Barcelona. “I was 12. It changed my life. The Dream Team showed us how basketball could be played.”
The Class of 2023 brought a distinctly international flavor to the basketball hall.
Nowitzki was the first European-born player to win the NBA MVP award, in 2007. Parker’s NBA Finals MVP award that year was the first for a European. In 2002, Gasol was the NBA’s…
