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Several Basketball Hall of Famers With Local Ties


By Ben Shlesinger

On a recent trip to Springfield, Massachusetts I decided to swing by the Basketball Hall of Fame. It was either that or the Dr. Seuss Museum. I’d been to both before but figured it was time to return to the hoops hall to highlight basketball luminaries with Montgomery County and other local ties. Let me know in the comments if I missed anyone.

Before anyone gets mad at me, of course Kevin Durant will be inducted one day after he retires. He only spent one year at the now-defunct Montrose Christian School, but he still counts in my book. David Falk, perhaps the most consequential agent in NBA history, is not in the hall. But the way he managed Michael Jordan’s career as his agent changed the NBA forever. He is certainly worthy of enshrinement one day.
Morgan Wootten graduated from Blair High School in 1950 and enrolled at Montgomery College in 1951. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. He is the first and only high school coach enshrined in Springfield and has way too many accomplishments from his time at DeMatha for me to list here.
Sam Jones lived in Silver Spring and was a substitute teacher in MCPS for many years. He also had a basketball camp my brother attended and I still have his autograph. He won the NBA championship 10 times with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and 60s.
This was the most local class. Former Bullets stars Dave Bing, Elvin Hayes, and Earl Monroe all were inducted in 1990. Earl “The Pearl” Monroe only played for the Baltimore Bullets. Elvin Hayes played for the Baltimore, Capital and Washington Bullets. Dave Bing, former Mayor of Detroit, only played for the Bullets for three years. He earned his fame with the Pistons.
This one is a stretch, but I used to see Dikembe Mutombo at various stores on Rockville Pike over the years. The last time was at the big and tall store where he was buying a new hat before President Obama’s 2008 inauguration.
The 2008 Class features Adrian Dantley. He famously serves as a crossing guard in Silver Spring and serves as a referee for rec basketball games in the county.  He was the 1976 NBA Rookie of the Year, a two-time scoring champion and six-time all-star.
Current MoCo resident Gary Williams was inducted in 2014. He famously resurrected his alma mater, the University of Maryland, to its former glory, culminating with the 2002 NCAA Championship.
Leonard Hamilton was never inducted into the hall of fame, but he was featured in a video at the Hall of Fame. He has been the head coach of the Florida State men’s basketball team for 22 years. He was also the top guy at the University of Miami for a decade, but in between those two stops he was the head coach of the Washington Wizards for the 2000-2001 season. What qualifies him for this article is when he led the Wizards, he lived in Bethesda and his daughter was on the Walter Johnson High School basketball team.

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