New Zealand's Kirk Penney is challenged by Korea's Tae Jong Moon in Auckland in 2014. Photo: Photosport
Former Tall Black Kirk Penney is in the FIBA Hall of Fame Class of 2024, alongside some big names in the game including USA's Reggie Miller and Serbian Predrag Stojakovic.
Penney is the second New Zealander to be inducted after current Tall Blacks coach Pero Cameron was honoured in 2017.
Seven players and one coach are being formally recognised for their contributions to basketball this year and will take part in an enshrinement ceremony in Singapore in September.
Penney is being honoured for serving the Tall Blacks with distinction at two Olympic Games and four World Cups.
The shooting guard played for New Zealand between 1999 and 2014, captaining New Zealand in 21 of the 179 games he played.
One of only three New Zealanders to feature in the NBA Penney made his New Zealand debut as an 18-year-old and quickly cemented himself in the side during a golden run for the national team.
During that time the Tall Blacks played at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, finished fourth at the 2002 FIBA World Champs and played at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The team also featured at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain - in what will prove to be Penney's swansong at the top level.
Shooting guard Kirk Penney. Photo: Photosport
Joining Penney on the list of inductees is former Olympic and World Cup winner Miller who is especially revered for his NBA contributions across an amazing 18 seasons in the league where he tallied a 25,000 points, helped by 2560 three-pointers and five NBA All-Star appearances.
The Serbian, often referred to simply as 'Peja' won the FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medal in 2002 with Yugoslavia, as well as a FIBA EuroBasket title in 2001 when he was crowned MVP. Also an Olympian, Stojakovic attained plenty of success at club level, most notably winning an NBA Championship in 2011 with Dallas Mavericks. A three-time NBA All-Star, he also won the Three-Point Contest twice.
Latvian Skaidrite Smildzina-Budovska conquered the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup three times and the FIBA Women's EuroBasket five times with the Soviet Union.
China's three-time Olympian Miao Lijie starred at four editions of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and Croatian ace Danira Nakic-Bilic lit it up with Yugoslavia, competing in title games at the Olympics, the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and FIBA Women's EuroBasket.
Central African Republic guard Romain Sato is on the list thanks to huge success at club level, including titles in Euroleague, Eurocup, the Spanish League and also four Italian championships.
Finally, American play-caller Dan Peterson flies the flag for coaches in the 2024 class. He masterminded the European Cup for Champion Clubs silverware in 1987 with Olimpia Milano, just two years after delivering the FIBA Korac Cup. Peterson also amassed five Italian titles and a host of individual coaching accolades.
The FIBA Hall of Fame was created in 2007 and has already seen the induction of 184 Hall of Famers from 45 countries and all five continents to date.
The Hall of Fame is based in the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.
