Hawks great Lou Hudson to enter Basketball Hall of Fame

Lou Hudson of the Atlanta Hawks during a game in the 1970s against the Buffalo Braves.

Credit: AJC file photo/Bill Grimes

Credit: AJC file photo/Bill Grimes

Lou Hudson of the Atlanta Hawks during a game in the 1970s against the Buffalo Braves.

Hawks legend Lou Hudson, one of five players in franchise history to have their jersey number retired, will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September.

Hudson, who died in 2014, will be enshrined posthumously as a selectee from the veterans committee. Hudson was selected fourth overall by the St. Louis Hawks in 1966, played 11 seasons with the franchise in St. Louis and Atlanta and is third on the franchise’s all-time scoring list with 16,049 points.

The top two scorers in franchise history - Dominique Wilkins and Bob Pettit - join Hudson, Pete Maravich and Dikembe Mutombo as players with retired jersey numbers.

Four other committee selectees will be inducted - Larry Costello and Del Harris (contributor committee), Theresa Shank-Grentz (women’s veterans committee) and Radivoj Korac (international committee).

Former NBA stars Manu Ginobili and Tim Hardaway headline the class of 2022, which was announced Saturday in New Orleans at the site of the NCAA Final Four.

Also selected this year were former WNBA champion and two-time college national champion Swin Cash; former NBA coach George Karl; long-time college coach Bob Huggins, WNBA champion and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsay Whalen; NCAA national championship coach and former WNBA Coach of the Year Marianne Stanley, and former NBA official Hugh Evans.

The entire 13-member class will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Sept. 10.