Aaawh! Kobe Bryant’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony pushed to 2021

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony for Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett and six others is postponed until 2021.

Hall of Fame Board of Governors chairman Jerry Colangelo broke the news Wednesday to ESPN. The ceremony was due to be held Aug. 29 in Springfield, Mass., following a presentation the previous day in Uncasville, Conn.

The Boston Globe recently reported that the Hall of Fame was looking to postpone the events until October, but Colangelo told ESPN that holding the ceremony this year won’t be possible due to the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re definitely cancelling,” Colangelo said. “It’s going to have to be the first quarter of next year. [The board will] meet in a couple of weeks and look at the options of how and when and where.”

He told ESPN that the Hall of Fame explored the possibility of moving the ceremony from Springfield’s 2,611-seat Symphony Hall to the city’s 8,319-seat MassMutual Center to provide more opportunity for social distancing, but ultimately the decision was made to wait until next year.

Bryant died Jan. 26 at age 41 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., that also claimed the life of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.