Dumars Elected to Hall of Fame

Joe Dumars, a steady presence on two NBA championship teams during a 14-year career with the Detroit Pistons, has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, a basketball official said on Saturday.

The official, who had knowledge of the decision, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement was scheduled for Monday.

Connecticut women’s Coach Geno Auriemma was elected to the hall in his first year of eligibility, according to a basketball official with firsthand knowledge of the voting process. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that former Hawk star Dominique Wilkins would also be inducted.

Dumars, elected in his second year of eligibility, won two NBA championships as a shooting guard with the Pistons, and another title in 2004 as their president of basketball operations. He was most valuable player of the 1989 NBA Finals, and helped Detroit repeat the next season.

Dumars averaged 16.1 points and 4.5 assists and was an All-Star six times during an eight-year stretch in the 1990s. He was first-team all-defense four times. In 1996, he won the NBA’s first sportsmanship award and its trophy was later named for him.

The 18th pick overall out of McNeese State came to the Pistons as a skinny, unknown shooting guard in 1985, and became a humble star known as “Joe D.”

Dumars became Detroit’s vice president of player personnel in 1999 and took over as president of basketball operations a year later.

Since arriving 21 years ago, Auriemma has turned Connecticut from a small regional program into a national powerhouse and led the Huskies to five NCAA titles. Their five straight trips to the Final Four from 2000 to 2004 is a record.

Auriemma also will be inducted into the women’s Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn., later this month.

Connecticut men’s Coach Jim Calhoun, winner of NCAA titles in 1999 and 2004, was enshrined in 2005.

Other finalists are: Charles Barkley, selected in 1996 as one the NBA’s 50 greatest players; Adrian Dantley, whose 23,177 career points rank 18th in NBA history; three-time national college player of the year Ralph Sampson; Big East Conference founder Dave Gavitt; former Purdue coach Gene Keady; college basketball TV analyst Dick Vitale; seven-time NBA All-Star Chet Walker; Dallas Maverick consultant Don Nelson, a former player who is under consideration as a coach; Van Chancellor, who coached the Houston Comets to four straight WNBA titles; former Spanish coach Pedro Ferrandiz; Sandro Gamba, a former Italian star player and coach; John Isaacs, who played for the first all-black National Basketball League team in 1949; and the late Ben Kerner, who owned the St. Louis Hawks.

This year’s Hall of Fame class will be enshrined Sept. 9 in Springfield, Mass.

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The Charlotte Bobcats waived guard Kareem Rush, a former Laker.

Rush, who began the season as the team’s starting shooting guard, eventually lost his starting position and fell out of favor with Coach and General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff. Rush did not play Friday night in a loss to Chicago, the second time in the last six games he did not play despite being healthy.

“The Bobcats are about two things -- hard work and maximum effort,” Bickerstaff said. “With that in mind, we think that it’s best to go in another direction with Kareem.”

The 6-foot-6 Rush, acquired from the Lakers in December 2004, averaged 11.5 points with Charlotte last season. He was averaging 10.1 points this season, and had a 35-point game against Indiana on Nov. 16.

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Jalen Rose is out and Stephon Marbury is doubtful when the New York Knicks complete a home-and-home series at Philadelphia tonight.

The Knicks could be without three starters. Steve Francis didn’t play in Friday’s loss at New York because of a sprained toe on his right foot and is listed as questionable.

Although the Knicks listed Marbury as doubtful, the point guard said after Saturday’s practice that he would not play tonight because of his injured left knee. Rose won’t play because of an injury to his left foot and a sore right knee.