Hawks legend ‘Sweet Lou Hudson’ voted into Basketball Hall of Fame

NEW ORLEANS — If you’ve been to a Hawks game in the past decade or two and wondered who it was that belonged to the number 23 jersey hanging from the arena rafters, wonder no more.

Six-time NBA All-Star and Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Lou Hudson has finally made it to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Though he passed away in 2014 at the age of 69, Hudson was posthumously voted into the hall as one of 13 people selected in the Class of 2022 on Saturday.

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Hudson wore the number 23 for the Hawks for 11 seasons. The first two were when the team was still located in St. Louis during the 1966 and 1967 seasons. The rest were spent in the old Omni, as a member of Atlanta’s NBA team.

In 1977, Hudson was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers where he played for two seasons before retiring in 1977.

Hudson’s jersey number is one of six that have been retired by the Hawks since moving to Atlanta. They include:

Dikembe Mutombo’s #55, Pete Maravich’s #44, Hudson’s #23, Dominque Wilkins’ #21 and Bob Pettit’s #9 (Pettit played for the St. Louis Hawks). The team also lists #59 as retired in honor of former Mayor Kasim Reed.

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Hudson will be honored in September along with the rest of his class. That list includes: former NBA All-Star Manu Ginobili, five-time All-Star Tim Hardaway, two-time NCAA National Coach of the Year Bob Huggins, former NBA coach George Karl and longtime referee Hugh Evans. The women are represented by three-time WNBA champION Lindsay Whalen, four-time All-Star Swin Cash and former Coach of the Year Marianne Stanley.

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The enshrinement festivities will be held Sept. 9-10, 2022 at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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