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Nash, Kidd among Hall of Fame finalists

Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, 10-time NBA All-Star Jason Kidd, two-time NBA champion Ray Allen and two-time NCAA champion Grant Hill are included among six first-time finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The 13 overall finalists, who were announced Saturday afternoon, also feature five-time All-Star Chris Webber, four-time All-Star Maurice Cheeks, three-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith and four-time WNBA champion Tina Thompson. Smith and Thompson round out the list of first-time finalists.

Three coaches are included: Charles "Lefty" Driesell, who is the only person in NCAA history to be named a coach of the year in four different conferences; Kim Mulkey, a two-time champion coach of Baylor; and Rudy Tomjanovich, who won two NBA titles with the Houston Rockets.

Longtime NBA official Hugh Evans also is a finalist. The only team finalist is the 1953-58 Wayland Baptist University squads, which won 131 games in a row and earned four AAU championships.

Nash and Kidd provided dominant play at point guard throughout their careers.

Nash is third all-time with 10,335 assists and ninth all-time with 8.5 assists per game. He also averaged 14.3 points per game during an 18-year career with the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers.

Kidd is second all-time with 12,091 assists and eighth all-time with 8.7 assists per game. He averaged 12.6 points per game over 19 seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Mavericks, Suns and New York Knicks.

Allen and Hill also provide star power among the Hall of Fame finalists. Allen is first in NBA history with 2,973 3-pointers and won championships with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and Miami Heat in 2013. Hill averaged 16.7 points per game in more than 1,000 NBA contests after a prolific college career at Duke.

The Hall of Fame's Class of 2018 will be announced March 31 during the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio. The class will be enshrined in early September.

--Field Level Media