Basketball Hall of Fame announces list of finalists for 2022 class

The Basketball Hall of Fame has announced its finalists for its upcoming class of inductees, and the list is naturally not short on legends.

Headlining the list is Manu Ginobili, four-time champion with the Spurs and two-time All-Star and All-NBA. He played 16 seasons with San Antonio and was instrumental in both the early-2000s run in which the team won three championships in five years and the group that won the title in 2013-14.

Joining Ginobili on the list is Michael Cooper, who experienced similar success over his career. A five-time champion with the Lakers, Cooper played his entire career in Los Angeles and earned a reputation as one of the top defenders in the league. He made five All-Defensive first- teams and three second-teams over 12 seasons.

Tim Hardaway has also been named a finalist after a long career in the pros. He was named to five All-Star Games and five All-NBA teams, including one first-team nod, three second-team looks and one third-team campaign. He played for the Warriors, Heat, Mavericks, Nuggets and Pacers.

Marques Johnson is another five-time All-Star on the list. After a storied career at UCLA, Johnson made an All-NBA first-team and two second-teams over his career in which he spent time with the Bucks, Clippers and Warriors.

Also on the list is Swin Cash, a three-time WNBA champion and a two-time national champion at Connecticut. She was a four-time All-Star and two-time All-WNBA second-teamer with the Shock, Storm, Sky, Dream and Liberty. She now works as the vice president of basketball operations and team development with the Pelicans.

Lindsay Whalen earned her way onto the list after winning four WNBA titles and being named to five All-Star Games in addition to winning two Olympic gold medals. She was named to three All-WNBA first-teams and two second-teams over a long career with the Sun and Lynx. She's now the head women's basketball coach at Minnesota, her alma mater.

George Karl is one of several coaches to be named a finalist. He is sixth all-time in wins among NBA coaches and was once named NBA Coach of the Year. He was the head coach for six teams — the Cavs, the Warriors, the SuperSonics, the Bucks, the Nuggets and the Kings — in addition to multiple overseas clubs.

Marianne Stanley made the list after a historic career coaching in college and the pros. She led Old Dominion to the national title in 1985 before going on to coach at Penn, USC, Stanford and California. In the WNBA, she was the head coach of the Mystics and Fever.

Also coming from the college coaching ranks is Bob Huggins, who currently leads the program at West Virginia. Huggins made history earlier this season when he rose to fourth on the all-time wins list in men's basketball. He has also coached at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati and Kansas State.

Leta Andrews closes out the group of coaches as the all-time winningest coach from the high school ranks, boys or girls. She coached high school hoops in Texas for 52 years and was named to the High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Rounding out the list of finalists is former NBA referee Hugh Evans. He refereed from 1972 to 2001, working 1,969 regular-season contests and 35 NBA Finals games. He currently works as an assistant supervisor of officials for the league.

The list of inductees will be announced on April 2 at the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans.