SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Sheryl Swoopes knows she will cry. That is coming, and she knows just when – with her Hall of Fame speech after so many re-writes finally set – that she will no longer be able to hold off the tears. But first, she had to laugh.
She had shared the stage with literal and figurative giants of the game, a few seats to the left of Shaquille O'Neal and just to the right of Yao Ming. She had slipped on her new, orange Hall of Fame jacket. It was her turn to say a few words, tipping off the weekend in which she will be inducted with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016.