When the NBA announced which players would be inducting Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett into the Hall of Fame, everyone celebrated the fact that Michael Jordan would be posthumously welcoming Kobe into the Hall. It just made sense.

It was one era’s GOAT inducting another era’s GOAT – that’s perfect. It also made everyone smile to have former Spurs teammate David Robinson bring in Tim Duncan. The two teamed up to bring in an NBA Championship to San Antonio.

However when it came to Kevin Garnett‘s choice, there was less of a direct line when we all tried to put together why he chose former Detroit Piston and NBA Champion Isiah Thomas to induct the Big Ticket. Needless to say there was a lot of questions as to why the NBA would choose Zeke to bring in KG, so we did some digging.

HOF inductees select their HOF presenters

The Internet’s confusion is merited to a point as there’s no obvious connection between the 6-1 Thomas and 6-11 Garnett. No one could have predicted that KG would have chosen Thomas was so off that it would have made someone money based on these predictions by NBA experts OLBG.com – most would have assumed Kevin McHale who drafted him out of high school. Some have posited that Garnett did so because both players were Chicago high school legends and that KG likely idolized Thomas growing up.

However when one goes a little deeper into the process and learns that the Hall of Fame inductee gets to select who they want their presenter to be.

So if that tradition of choosing a current member of the Hall of Fame to do the presenting remains true, then it was Garnett who chose to have Thomas as his sponsor. It wasn’t the Hall of Fame committee or the NBA making the choice or selection. And that 100% makes sense as it’s that player’s (or coach’s or contributor’s) night after all.

Not all inductee-sponsor connections are apparent

This wouldn’t be the first time that Isiah Thomas was a surprise choice to be a prospective member’s Hall of Famer presenter. The same thing happened back in 2009 when John Stockton really surprised many by choosing Thomas as his “Sponsor” into the Hall. Considering what we knew about Isiah’s indirect relationship with Stockton when it came to his controversial exclusion from the 1992 Dream Team, Karl Malone’s dirty elbow after he scored 44 points on the Jazz guard, and their general place in the best point guard in NBA history discussions.

It was just Thomas, the class of 2009 also saw seemingly disconnected inductee-presenter pairings as Michael Jordan chose David Thompson and Jerry Sloan choosing Charles Barkley. Let’s talk about those first.

Sloan picking Barkley, like Garnett choosing Thomas, might seem unusual, but when it comes to Sloan’s reasoning, we can point to his “fun rivalry” he had with Charles throughout their careers; Sloan as the head coach of the Jazz for years and Barkley when he played with the 76ers, Suns and Rockets. Inducted in 2006 the TNT Analyst also played for Sloan as apart of the “Dream Team 2” during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when Jerry was an assistant to Lenny Wilkens. So even though we might not make the connection, it’s there.

Sloan never came out to say why he chose The Round Mound of Rebound, but gave this quote when asked about the whys. “I did choose a guy for a lot of different reasons,” Sloan said. “People ask why probably, I’m sure. I was really excited and shocked that he would accept, so it made me feel good.”

When it came to Jordan choosing his presenter, he didn’t go with the more apparent choices like Dean Smith or Phil Jackson or Charles Barkley. Instead Jordan went with former NBA star and fellow high-flyer David Thompson. With that choice, it wasn’t any tangible connection so much as an intangible inspiration.

“I got a call from the Hall of Fame and they asked me if I was willing to be a presenter for someone,” Thompson told Yahoo! Sports. “I said, ‘Yeah.’ I didn’t know who it was. … They said Michael Jordan. I was like, ‘Wow.’ He told them that he was a big fan of mine and I was the one that really inspired him. Being that there was so many North Carolina people he could’ve chose, I was honored. I was kind of surprised, and also was really flattered that he chose me over Coach Smith. You know how important he is?”

Stockton came up to the podium with Thomas off to the side and we quickly learned why the NBA’s all-time assist leader made his decision on his fellow point God saying:

I’d like to start out by thanking Isiah for coming up here and presenting me this evening. don’t know everything about each other all the time and we’ve had some tough battles but one thing I know for sure he’s shown up many times in my life and made major impact for me much and a lot of it’s behind the scenes and thank you I appreciate it.

(I also recall a clip of Stockton at his Hall of Fame induction mentioning how he was so in awe of  Thomas the first time he saw him. They both were at an AAU tournament and now I can’t seem to find it.)

When it comes down to the Hall of Fame, you have to remember that it’s all about the inductee and it doesn’t have to make sense to us. They get to choose, ask/request a current member of the Hall of Fame to “sponsor” them. There’s so much that we don’t know about players. There are thousands of small moments, behind-the-scenes chats, and memories that formed that player and made them who they became; all way before we knew their names.

In any case, we’ll no doubt learn more about why Kevin Garnett chose Isiah Thomas when the legendary Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics player is inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 15 at Mohegan Sun Arena.