Efforts to put ’72 Olympic medals in hoop Hall thwarted

By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer

Members of the 1972 Olympic basketball team have talked about finally retrieving those silver medals they vowed to never accept and left behind in Germany. They still don’t want them for themselves, but believe the medals belong in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. So 1972 team member and former Maryland Congressman Tom McMillen proposed a third party accept the medals, which would find their way into the Hall. But to get the medals a home in the Hall of Fame — which is holding its induction ceremony for the Class of 2022 this weekend — the International Olympic Committee told the players once again they first have to accept them. And that’s the same non-starter it was 50 years ago.