Phoenix, AZ (My Sportsbook) - Former NBA superstars Michael Jordan, David Robinson and John Stockton are among the 16 finalists for the 2009 class of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Joining the three members of the NBA's 50th Anniversary Team as finalists in their first year of consideration are current Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and former WNBA star Cynthia Cooper.

Other finalists include former players Chris Mullin, Bernard King, Dennis Johnson and Richie Guerin; NBA coach Don Nelson; NBA contributor Al Attles; legendary high school coach Bob Hurley Sr.; women's college coach C. Vivian Stringer; contributor Johnny "Red" Kerr; and international candidates Vladimir Kondrashin and Pereira Maciel Ubiratan.

The Class of 2009 will be announced Monday, April 6 in Detroit, Michigan prior to the NCAA men's championship game. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Enshrinement festivities in Springfield, Massachusetts are scheduled for September 10-12.

Widely considered one of the best to ever play the game, Jordan starred first on the collegiate level at North Carolina, where he hit the game-winning shot in the 1982 national championship game against Georgetown as a freshman. He then helped transform the NBA game in 15 seasons with Chicago and Washington.

Jordan led the Bulls to six NBA titles and was named MVP of the Finals each time. He was the Rookie of the Year for the 1984-85 season and captured five season MVP awards, while being selected to the All-Star Game 14 times. In addition, he was an All-NBA First-Team choice 10 times and won Olympic gold medals in 1984 as a collegian and in 1992 as a member of the original "Dream Team."

In 1,072 NBA games, Jordan averaged 30.1 points, the best in NBA history. He led the league in scoring average 10 times during his first 13 seasons with the Bulls, taking a full year and part of another campaign off to pursue a baseball career. He retired after the last of Chicago's six titles in the spring of 1998, then returned with the Wizards for the 2001-02 and '02-03 seasons.

Robinson spent each of his 14 NBA seasons with the San Antonio Spurs after being selected with the first overall pick of the 1987 draft. After a two-year commitment to the Navy, he joined the Spurs for the 1989-90 season and averaged 21.1 points with 10.6 rebounds in 987 games.

"The Admiral" was the Rookie of the Year for the 1989-90 season, the league MVP for the 1994-95 campaign and helped the Spurs to NBA titles in 1999 and 2003. He played in 10 All-Star Games, was a First-Team All-NBA choice four times and won a pair of Olympic gold medals -- one with the "Dream Team" in 1992.

At the Naval Academy, Robinson was the Wooden Award winner and Naismith Player of the Year in his senior season of 1986-87 when he averaged 28.2 points with 11.8 rebounds.

Stockton played his entire 19-year NBA career with the Utah Jazz and finished as the all-time leader with 15,806 assists and 3,265 steals. He led the league in assists for nine straight years from 1987-88 through 1995-96.

A first-round pick out of Gonzaga in 1984, Stockton played in 10 All-Star Games and was the MVP of the contest in 1993. He was a First-Team All-NBA selection twice and a Second-Team choice six times.

Stockton played 1,504 games over his career, averaging 13.1 points, 10.5 assists and 2.2 steals. He won gold medals in the Olympics as a member of the original "Dream Team" in 1992 and again in 1996.

Mullin, a finalist for the second year in a row and another member of the "Dream Team," was a five-time NBA All-Star and collegiate standout at St. John's, where he is still the all-time scoring leader and was named Big East Player of the Year an unprecedented three times. He also won Olympic gold in 1984 and played 16 NBA seasons for Golden State and Indiana, amassing 17,911 points.

King spent 15 seasons in the NBA with New Jersey, Utah, Golden State, New York and Washington after an All-American career at Tennessee. He averaged 22.5 points in the NBA, was selected for the All-Star Game four times and was chosen as First-Team All-NBA twice.

Johnson was previously a finalist in 1999, 2003, 2005 and last year. Considered one of the best defenders of his era, Johnson earned nine straight NBA All-Defensive Team honors during his 14-year career with Seattle, Phoenix and Boston. He led the Sonics to the 1979 NBA title, earning Finals MVP honors, and helped the Celtics to NBA crowns 1984 and '86.

Guerin, in his third year as a finalist from the Veterans' Committee, was a six-time NBA All-Star (1958-1963) and accumulated 14,676 points, 4,278 rebounds and 4,211 assists during a pro career with the Knicks (1956-63), St. Louis Hawks (1963-67) and Atlanta Hawks (1968-70).

Kerr, also a finalist from the Veterans' Committee, is up for election for the fifth time in the past six years. He has dedicated more than 60 years of his life to the game of basketball as a player, coach, executive and broadcaster. A three-time NBA All Star (1956, 1959, 1963) and a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals, Kerr has served as color commentator for the Chicago Bulls since 1975.

Sloan was an assistant coach with the Bulls before beginning his long career with the Jazz. He is the only coach in NBA history with more than 1,000 wins with a single team and is currently fourth on the NBA's all-time wins list.

Nelson, still coaching with the Golden State Warriors, was previously a finalist in 2006 and 2008. He is also a three-time NBA Coach of the Year winner and is currently second in NBA coaching victories.

Attles has contributed over 50 consecutive years of service to the Golden State Warriors as a player, player-coach, coach, general manager, vice president and consultant. He led the Warriors to the 1975 NBA championship, and is currently the team's vice president and assistant GM.

Hurley is a New Jersey high school coaching legend, having compiled more than 900 wins as head coach at St. Anthony's in Jersey City since 1972. He has led the school to 25 state parochial titles and all but one of his players in 36 years has gone on to college. If elected, he would become only the third person elected exclusively for their service to high school basketball, joining Morgan Wootten and Bertha Teague.

Stringer is also a current coach in New Jersey at Rutgers University and is a first-time finalist. Already a women's basketball Hall of Famer, she has a career record of 777-260 and has led three different schools to the women's Final Four, including Rutgers, Iowa and Cheyney State.

Cooper won a pair of NCAA women's titles at Southern California and captured four WNBA crowns with the Houston Comets. She was twice the league's MVP and won an Olympic gold medal in 1988.

Kondrashin was known as the founder of basketball in Leningrad, where he would compile an overall record of 727-365. He led the Soviet Union National Team to the Olympic Gold Medal in 1972 and the Olympic Bronze Medal in 1976.

Ubiratan, a finalist for the second year in a row, is widely considered one of the greatest players in South American basketball history. A member of three Brazilian Olympic teams, Ubiratan led his countrymen to the bronze medal at the 1964 Olympic Games.