National Basketball Association (NBA) veterans Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Yao Ming are on the list of the nominees for the 2016 Induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Iverson, O'Neal, and Ming retired from the NBA after the 2010-11 Season.
According to the report from ESPN, Iverson was the Most Valuable Player during the 2001 season and have been part of the all-stars 11 times. O'Neal on the other hand is a four-time NBA champion and has been considered as one of the most dominant center in the league, while Ming was the top pick in 2002 draft and has been influential in the growth of basketball in China.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced that it will be changing its requirement of five years waiting period into four. The previous rule states that a player needs to be retired for five full seasons before being nominated and due to the enshrinement calendar a player needs to be out of the game for six years for them to be inducted.
"We wanted to get more in line with some of the other Halls, and it just seemed like too long of a wait for some of the individuals," said Hall chairman Jerry Colangelo on SportsCenter.
NBA.com reported that former NBA stars Junior Bridgeman and Bobby Jones are also part of the nominees. Other nominees include former referees Hugh Evans, Darell Garretson; College coaches Lefty Driesell, Izzo, Gene Keady, Rollie Massimino, Bo Ryan and Eddie Sutton.
First-time nominees for the Women Committee include Pearl Moore, Sheryl Swoopes and a team entry from Wayland Baptist.
The finalist for the Hall of Fame will be announced during NBA All-Star Weekend in February, and inductees will be announced on April 4 in Houston during the NCAA men's championship game. The induction ceremony will be held in Springfield on Sep. 9.
