Former NBA commissioner David Stern and star center Alonzo Mourning were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Stern and Morning headlined the 2014 Hall of Fame class that also includes Mitch Richmond, Nolan Richardson, Garry Williams, Bob Leonard, Nat Clinton, Sarunas Marciulionis, Guy Rodgers and the Immaculata University's AIAW national 1970s championship teams.

Stern, who ended his reign as NBA commissioner in February, was honored for his contributions to the league, but the 71-year-old refused to take all the credits, while also expressing confidence that the NBA will continue to flourish under new commissioner Adam Silver.

"I think the future is incredibly bright," Stern said via ESPN. "The reason I am here is because of thousands of people over the years who have done so much. The league is in spectacular shape going forward under the extraordinary leadership of Adam Silver."

Stern brought the NBA into greater heights as it became very popular worldwide as proven by the impact brought by the 1992 NBA Dream Team that competed in the Barcelona Olympics that year. Under his leadership, league revenue increased to around $900 million from $10 million in 1984.

But for former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson, who was present during the ceremony, one of Stern's biggest achievements happened outside the basketball court.

"He will go down as the greatest commissioner in sports history, but he will also go down as the man who changed the face of HIV and AIDS and made it acceptable around the world, and you can embrace people, you can talk about it openly and not behind closed doors anymore," Johnson said.

On the other hand, Mourning had the most inspirational speech of the night where he talked about the obstacles that he had to go through during his 15-year career.

Mourning, who holds a career average of 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds, overcame a life-threatening kidney disease in 2003 and made one of the greatest comebacks in basketball history.

"I am not supposed to be on this stage considering what life threw at me," Mourning said. "The only reason I am here and the only reason I am on this stage, the only reason I did survive, is because of God's grace and also other people's contributions. Those individuals and influences in my life gave me the greatest gift possible -- it gave me a piece of themselves to a kid from Virginia."

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