The Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame (MSG Walk of Fame) was established in 1992 "to recognize athletes, artists, announcers and coaches for their extraordinary achievements and memorable performances at the venue." [1] Twenty-five athletes were inducted into the MSG Walk of Fame at its inaugural ceremony in 1992, a black-tie dinner to raise money to fight multiple sclerosis. [2]
Tennis standouts Chris Evert, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova were all inducted on the same day in 1993, and were the first female inductees. [3] Other "firsts" in the MSG Walk of Fame include Elton John (1992), first entertainer; [4] [5] Marv Albert (1996), first sportscaster; [6] Rolling Stones (1998), first band;. [7] and Scott Hamilton (1998), first figure skater. [8]
MSG Walk of Fame Inductees | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Date Inducted (yyyy-mm-dd) | Category | Ref | Comment | |
First | Last | ||||
Kareem | Abdul-Jabbar | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | |
Muhammad | Ali | 1992-09-15 | sport: boxing | [9] | |
Larry | Bird | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | |
Bill | Bradley | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | |
Wilt | Chamberlain | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [9] | |
Bob | Cousy | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [9] | |
Glenn | Cunningham | 1992-09-15 | sport: track | [2] | |
Jack | Dempsey | 1992-09-15 | sport: boxing | [2] | |
Wayne | Gretzky | 1992-09-15 | sport: hockey | [2] | |
Nat | Holman | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball, coach | [2] | |
Red | Holzman | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball, coach | [2] | |
Gordie | Howe | 1992-09-15 | sport: hockey | [9] | |
Michael | Jordan | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | |
Joe | Lapchick | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball, coach | [2] | |
Rod | Laver | 1992-09-15 | sport: tennis | [2] | |
Joe | Louis | 1992-09-15 | sport: boxing | [2] | |
Rocky | Marciano | 1992-09-15 | sport: boxing | [2] | |
George | Mikan | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | |
Bobby | Orr | 1992-09-15 | sport: hockey | [2] | |
Jesse | Owens | 1992-09-15 | sport: track | [2] | |
Willis | Reed | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | |
Maurice | Richard | 1992-09-15 | sport: hockey | [2] | |
Oscar | Robertson | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | For his college career. |
Sugar Ray | Robinson | 1992-09-15 | sport: boxing | [2] | |
Bill | Russell | 1992-09-15 | sport: basketball | [2] | |
Elton | John | 1992-10-10 | entertainment: music | [4] [10] [11] | John was the first entertainer to be inducted, for "his many memorable appearances there". [4] |
Chris | Evert | 1993-08-30 | sport: tennis | [3] [12] | Evert, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King were the first women inducted into the MSG Walk of Fame. |
Billie Jean | King | 1993-08-30 | sport: tennis | [3] | King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert were the first three women to be inducted into the MSG Walk of Fame. |
Martina | Navratilova | 1993-08-30 | sport: tennis | [3] | Navratilova, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King were the first three women to be inducted into the MSG Walk of Fame. |
Billy | Joel | 1993-10-8 | entertainment: music | [13] | 2nd entertainer and 30th person to be inducted. |
Marv | Albert | 1996-10-29 | sportscaster | [14] | First sportscaster inducted. [6] |
Lou | Carnesecca | 1996-10-29 | sport: basketball, coach | [14] | |
Oscar | De La Hoya | 1996-10-29 | sport: boxing | [14] | |
Patrick | Ewing | 1996-10-29 | sport: basketball | [14] | |
Joe | Frazier | 1996-10-29 | sport: boxing | [14] [15] | |
Walt | Frazier | 1996-10-29 | sport: basketball | [14] [15] | |
Rod | Gilbert | 1996-10-29 | sport: hockey | [14] [15] | |
Steffi | Graf | 1996-10-29 | sport: tennis | [14] [16] | |
Jackie | Joyner-Kersee | 1996-10-29 | sport: track | [14] | |
Carl | Lewis | 1996-10-29 | sport: track | [14] | |
John | McEnroe | 1996-10-29 | sport: tennis | [14] [15] | |
Mark | Messier | 1996-10-29 | sport: hockey | [14] [15] | |
Dave | DeBusschere | 1997-10-21 | sport: basketball | [17] | |
Phil | Esposito | 1997-10-21 | sport: hockey | [17] | |
Rolling Stones | 1998-01-17 | entertainment: music | [18] | First band to be inducted. [7] | |
Scott | Hamilton | 1998-03-14 | sport: figure skating | [8] [19] | First figure skater to be inducted. |
Carol | Blazejowski | 2003-09-18 | sport: basketball | [20] | Inducted for scoring 52 points in a single game in 1977, before the era of 3-point baskets. [21] |
Harry | Howell | 2003-09-18 | sport: hockey | [22] | |
Dick | McGuire | 2003-09-18 | sport: basketball | [22] | |
Vince | McMahon | 2003-09-18 | sport: wrestling | [22] | |
Bob | Wolff | 2003-09-18 | sportscaster | [22] [23] | |
George | Harrison | 2006-08-01 | entertainment: music | [24] | For the 35th anniversary of his ‘Concert for Bangladesh’, which raised over $15 million for UNICEF. |
Teresa | Weatherspoon | 2006-08-05 | sport: basketball | [25] [26] | |
Harry | Gallatin | 2015-05-11 | sport: basketball | [27] [28] | |
Eddie | Giacomin | 2015-05-11 | sport: hockey | [1] [26] | |
Grateful Dead | 2015-05-11 | entertainment: music | [29] [1] | The Grateful Dead were to have been inducted in the 1990s, but the induction was postponed due to the death of the band's lead guitarist and singer, Jerry Garcia. [30] | |
George | Kalinsky | 2015-05-11 | MSG: official photographer | [1] [26] | |
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