The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame held a press conference at Vivint Arena on Friday afternoon to announce the recipients of the 2023 Curt Gowdy Media Award and John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the five coaches and seven players who are finalists up for Hall of Fame enshrinement.
The finalists will then be put forth to a committee to be considered for election as a member of the Class of 2023.
ESPN reporter and play-by-play commentator Holly Rowe, ESPN and Andscape senior NBA writer Marc Spears and CBS Sports are the 2023 Curt Gowdy Media Award recipients. High school scout Tom Konchalski is the recipient of the 2023 John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rowe joined ESPN in 1998 and has primarily served as a play-by-play announcer for women’s basketball and volleyball, along with serving as a sideline reporter in 17 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournaments.
In addition to her play-by-play duties, Rowe has been a fixture on college football sidelines since joining ESPN, including patrolling the benches during the College Football Playoffs and contributing to the network’s volleyball, softball, NBA and WNBA broadcasts.
Rowe attended BYU and later graduated from the University of Utah and worked with FOX Sports, calling women’s college basketball games.
In 2021, Rowe made Utah Jazz history as the team’s first female color commentator.
The finalists for the Hall of Fame Class of 2023 include the following:
- Gene Bess (the all-time winningest college coach).
- Pau Gasol (six-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, 2002 Rookie of the Year).
- David Hixon (826 wins, two-time D3 national champion, two-time D3 Coach of the Year).
- Gene Keady (seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year).
- Dirk Nowitzki (14-time All-Star, 2006-07 MVP, 2011 NBA champion).
- Tony Parker (six-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion, 2007 Finals MVP).
- Gregg Popovich (winningest coach in NBA history, five-time NBA champion).
- Dwyane Wade (13-time All-Star, three-time NBA champion, 2006 Finals MVP).
- Jennifer Azzi (1990 Naismith Player of the Year, 1990 national champion).
- Gary Blair (852 wins, 2011 national champion).
- Becky Hammon (six-time WNBA All-Star).
- Marian Washington (560 wins, 11 NCAA apps).
“The recognition is an amazing honor,” Gasol said on Friday. “It comes along when you do things very, very well for a long time, and when you love what you do.”
The announcement for Wade was special as it happened during NBA All-Star Weekend hosted in Utah, where he is part owner of the Utah Jazz.
“I felt that I gave the game everything that I had and I did it every day,” Wade said. “Along that journey there’s so many people that have pushed me that wouldn’t allow me to give up on myself, wouldn’t allow me to give up on my dreams. We all need that. We cannot do it all on our own.”
With the caliber of this finalist class, Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, said that there is likely to be even more first-ballot names enshrined than is normal.
“This is a loaded class,” Colangelo said. “In the next step, there are 18 votes that have to be ‘yes’ on the ballot to be inducted.
“I think this is unique in that we have a lot of first-time people and it’s unusual when somebody makes it on the first ballot, but this is going to be that unique a class.”