Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen and two of the best US Olympic teams - including the 1992 Dream Team - were selected Monday as part of the 2010 induction class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Malone and Pippen, both eligible for election for the first time, were part of that 1992 Olympic team. “This is a great moment. This is something that I never dreamed would happen to me as a player,” Pippen said. “This is very special to me as a kid who walked on at the University of Central Arkansas.” NBA veterans Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson and Brazil star Maciel “Ubiratan” Pereira will be honored posthumously. Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, WNBA star Cynthia Cooper and US high school coaching great Bob Hurley, Sr., were also in the class. The 1960 and 1992 US Olympic teams, which both won Olympic gold medals, will be part of the induction ceremony on Aug. 13. “Playing for your country is the ultimate,” said Larry Bird, who represented the team at Monday's ceremony. “Our team was pretty special. We had some pretty good players.” Bird also was thrilled by Dennis Johnson's inclusion. “It's very special. We've been waiting for this day for a long time,” he said. “He's the best player I ever played with.” Dennis Johnson, a three-time NBA champion, was the MVP of the 1979 Finals with Seattle before taking over as the point guard on the Bird-led Boston Celtics teams of the mid-1980s. He died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 52. Pippen made seven All-Star teams during his 17-year NBA career and won six championships alongside Michael Jordan, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. Malone, a two-time NBA MVP, was an All-Star in 14 of his 19 seasons who led the Utah Jazz to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, both ending with losses to Pippen, Jordan and the Bulls. The second-leading scorer in NBA history, Malone finished his career in 2004 with 36,928 points.
