One of the most popular coaches in NBA history, Pat Riley, has just been invited to join the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The event will take place in Springfield, Massachusetts on the 5^th of September.

Mr. Riley, winner of five NBA championships, will be joined by Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and Adrian Dantley, former Immaculata coach Cathy Rush, Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson and ESPN analyst Dick Vitale as their names and contributions to the game will also displayed in the gallery.

Pat Riley won four titles with the Lakers in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 and after teaming up with the New York Knicks for a few seasons, won his fifth championship with the Miami Heat, team for which he has been head coach for the past 13 years. He is the only coach to have won NBA Coach of the Year honors with three different franchises, receiving the award with every one of the three teams he has served as a head coach.

Patrick Ewing played for the Knick 15 seasons, up until 2000, updating records on all of the games stats: points, blocked shots, steals and field goals. With his 24,815 scored points he is ranked 15^th in NBA history.

“I’ve been to the Hall of Fame many times, in grade school and high school. I had field trips to the Hall of Fame and taking tours of it. I just never thought about that one day I possibly might be in it. I think it’d be great,” ,” said Ewing according to the New York Times, who grew up in Cambridge, Mass., less than two hours from the Hall’s home in Springfield.

Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to their consecutive two championships in 1994 and 1995, holds the NBA record for blocked shots with 3,830 and with 26,946 points scored in 18 seasons holds the seventh position in NBA history.