Liberty Legend Teresa Weatherspoon to Present Two At Basketball Hall of Fame

Former New York Liberty star Teresa Weatherspoon will herald the Hall of Fame entries of teammate Becky Hammon and coach Gary Blair.

Teresa Weatherspoon hasn't taken to WNBA hardwood since 2004 but she's still posting double-doubles. 

One of the original stars of the New York Liberty is literally taking on a vocal prescience at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Aug. 12. Weatherspoon, who earned her own entry to Springfield in 2019, will be presenting former Liberty teammate Becky Hammon and former college coach Gary Blair. 

Hammon and Weatherspoon were two of the earliest stars of the Liberty. The former originally backed up Weatherspoon upon her entry in 1999 and later took over for her in the starting five when she moved on to Los Angeles after playing with the Liberty in their first seven seasons of existence (1997-2003). Hammon would play eight seasons in New York (1999-2006) and now serves as the head coach for the Las Vegas Aces, who took home the WNBA title last season. 

Joining Weatherspoon in the Hammon honor will be Sheryl Swoopes, the duo's championship rival who played 11 seasons with the Houston Comets. 

Weatherspoon will also herald the entry of longtime women's college basketball coach Gary Blair, who served as an assistant during her freshman year at Louisiana Tech. The two collaborated on a run to the Elite Eight before Blair took on the head coaching job at Stephen F. Austin. In addition to an eight-year run with the Ladyjacks (which yielded six consecutive Southland Conference tournament wins), Blair also served at the helm of Arkansas (1993-2003) and Texas A&M (2003-22). 

Another Comets connection resides in the Blair induction, as head coach Van Chancellor will co-present.

Like Hammon and Blair, Weatherspoon has also dabbled in coaching, including several years on the Liberty staff. She returned to her alma mater of Louisiana Tech for five seasons in the top spot (2009-14) and more recently spent time in the NBA as a development coach in the New Orleans Pelicans (2020-23). 

In addition to Weatherspoon, New York basketball will also be partly represented by Jason Kidd, who spent his final NBA season with the New York Knicks (2012-13). Kidd is set to introduce former Dallas Mavericks teammate Dirk Nowitzki alongside Steve Nash. 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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