And he’s got plenty of elite company in the 2020 class, one that may be as glitzy as any.

Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, and fellow NBA greats Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett headlined a nine-person group announced Saturday as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this July 18, 2013 file photo, Kevin Garnett smiles as he speaks to reporters during an NBA basketball news conference in New York. Garnett and fellow NBA greats Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant headlined a nine-person group announced Saturday, April 4, 2020, as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. They all got into the Hall in their first year of eligibility, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings. Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, longtime Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton were selected. So was former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

“An amazing class,” Duncan said.

They all got into the Hall in their first year as finalists, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings. Others had to wait a bit longer for the good news: Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich finally got his call, as did longtime Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this June 5, 2014 file photo, San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan listens to a question during a news conference in San Antonio. Duncan, fellow NBA greats Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett headlined a nine-person group announced Saturday, April 4, 2020, as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. They all got into the Hall in their first year of eligibility, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings. Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, longtime Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton were selected. So was former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

They were the eight finalists who were announced in February, and the panel of 24 voters who were tasked to decide who merited selection wound up choosing them all. Also headed to the Hall this year: former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann, selected as a direct-elect by the international committee.

“He was the head of FIBA and this was a way to honor him,” Hall of Fame Chairman and enshrinee Jerry Colangelo said. “It was a special thing done through that committee.”

Bryant died about three weeks before the Hall of Fame said — as if there was going to be any doubt — that he was a finalist. Duncan and Garnett were also widely perceived to be locks to be part of this class; they were both 15-time NBA All-Stars, and Bryant was an 18-time selection.

Bryant’s death has been part of a jarring start of the year for basketball: Commissioner Emeritus David Stern died on Jan. 1, Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine who died in the crash in late January, and the NBA shut down March 11 as the coronavirus pandemic began to grip the U.S.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this July 10, 2004 file photo, Two-time NBA champion Rudy Tomjanovich answers questions at a news conference after being named The Los Angeles Lakers new head coach in Los Angeles. Tomjanovich, Kobe Bryant and fellow NBA greats Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett headlined a nine-person group announced Saturday, April 4, 2020, as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

“Obviously, we wish that he was here with us to celebrate,” Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s wife, said on the ESPN broadcast of the class announcement. “But it’s definitely the peak of his NBA career and every accomplishment that he had as an athlete was a steppingstone to be here. So we’re incredibly proud of him.”

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this April 7, 2019 file photo, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey encourages her team during the first half against Notre Dame in the Final Four championship game of the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament in Tampa, Fla. Mulkey is part of a nine-person group announced Saturday, April 4, 2020, as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)

Bryant was also a five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, just as Duncan was with the San Antonio Spurs.

“This is an incredibly special class, for many reasons,” Colangelo said.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this June 26, 2019 file photo, Tamika Catchings poses for a photo inside Banker’s Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Catchings is part of a nine-person group announced Saturday, April 4, 2020, as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

Garnett is the only player in NBA history with at least 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 5,000 assists, 1,500 blocks and 1,500 steals. He also was part of Boston’s 2008 NBA title.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this Jan. 20, 2018 file photo, former Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton is pictured on the court in Stillwater, Okla. Sutton is part of a nine-person group announced Saturday, April 4, 2020, as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

“This is the culmination,” Garnett said. “All those hours … this is what you do it for, right here. To be able to be called ‘Hall of Famer’ is everything.”

Duncan spent the entirety of his career with the Spurs, and is now back with the team as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich.

“It’s kind of the end of the journey here,” Duncan, on the broadcast, said of his enshrinement. “It was an incredible career that I enjoyed so much. To call it a dream come true isn’t even doing any justice to it. I never dreamt I’d be at this point.”

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this Monday May 15, 2017 file photo, International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission Chair Patrick Baumann smiles as he visits the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. Baumann is part of a nine-person group announced Saturday, April 4, 2020, as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, file)

Duncan, Garnett and Bryant were similar in many ways as players: The longevity of their careers, the eye-popping numbers, almost perennial inclusion on award lists. They also shared a dislike for touting personal accomplishments.

But even the Hall would have touched Bryant, those closest to him said.

“No one deserves it more,” Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss said.

Added Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, Bryant’s former agent: “All of us can trust that this Basketball Hall of Fame honor is one Kobe would, and will, deeply appreciate.”

Catchings was a 10-time WNBA All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist. Tomjanovich, who had overwhelming support from NBA peers who couldn’t understand why it took so long for his selection, was a five-time All-Star as a player, guided Houston to back-to-back titles and took the 2000 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal.

“It’s a scary time and families are being shattered by this pandemic. To get something positive right now is so wonderful,” Tomjanovich said.

Mulkey has three NCAA titles as a coach, won two others as a player and had Baylor in position to vie for another championship this season had the global coronavirus pandemic not forced the shutdown of virtually every sport around the globe. Stevens has coached for 43 years and is a five-time Division II coach of the year. Sutton won more than 800 games in nearly four decades, and Baumann was one of the most powerful voices in international basketball until his death in 2018.

“The incredible emotions that I felt after receiving the call from the Hall of Fame Friday afternoon, I can’t even put into words,” Stevens said.

The enshrinement ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts, is scheduled for Aug. 29. Should the pandemic force a delay, there is a tentative plan for an October ceremony as well.

For this year, largely because of the star power of this class, the Hall chose to enact a one-year suspension of direct elections from the Veteran’s, Women’s Veteran’s, Early African-American Pioneers and Contributors categories.

With Bryant, Duncan and Garnett as perhaps the top NBA trio to ever enter simultaneously, the Hall wanted to make sure that no enshrinee would be overlooked.

“We didn’t need to water it down,” Colangelo said. “Next year is another year for many.”