MIES (FIBA Hall of Fame) - The 2013 Class of the FIBA Hall of Fame was inducted at the House of Basketball on Wednesday.

Twelve world class basketball personalities from 10 different countries were enshrined in a ceremony held in the Naismith Arena, the exhibition and event area on the ground floor of the House of Basketball.

The inductees are:

PLAYERS
Jean-Jacques Conceiçao (Angola)
Teresa Edwards (USA)
Andrew Gaze (Australia)
Paula Gonçalves (Brazil)
David Robinson (USA)
Zoran Slavnic (Serbia)

COACHES
John 'Jack' Donohue (Canada) posthumous
Cesare Rubini (Italy) posthumous
Pat Summitt (USA)

TECHNICAL OFFICIALS
Valentin Lazarov (Bulgaria)
Costas Rigas (Greece)

CONTRIBUTORS
Aldo Vitale (Italy)

Conceiçao, Edwards, Gaze, Gonçalves and Slavnic were the players in attendance to accept their plaques from FIBA President Yvan Mainini. They were joined by technical officials Lazarov and Rigas and contributor Aldo Vitale.

USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley accepted the plaque on behalf of Robinson who could not attend. Michele O'Keefe, the Executive Director of Canada Basketball, did the same for the late Donohue and Rubini's nephew, Giorgio, did so for his late uncle.

With Summitt unable to make the trip, her long-time assistant and current head coach of Tennessee University's Women's Basketball Team, Holly Warlick, attending on her behalf.

The inductees took to the stage and paid tribute to FIBA as well as to their national federations, team-mates, coaches, families in some emotional and at times humourous speeches.

You can find all of the profiles of the 2013 inductees of the FIBA Hall of Fame on the FIBA Hall of Fame website.

Here is a selection of quotes from the speeches given by the inductees.

Jean-Jacques Conceiçao
"For me, this is the highest moment in my career as a player. I am proud of my country because it is thanks to Angola that I am in this position. Thank you to my teammates, the coaching staff, the journalists, the government. I hope that Africa will have other players and basketball officials inducted into this building, the House of Basketball, that belongs to us all. Thank you to FIBA for this honour and for this acknowledgement."

John 'Jack' Donohue (Michele O'Keefe accepting on his behalf)
"I accept this on behalf of the Donohue family. Jack had a very large personality. He was an American who came to Canada and convinced a hockey nation that basketball was a good sport to play. Canada's men's national team head coach Jay Triano played for Jack and to this day he tells stories of his time playing for Jack to his players. Jack believed that you could use basketball to make good men and Jay is carrying on that tradition."

Teresa Edwards
"This is a big house. I have come a long way. I have stood on the shoulders of giants. I would like to say thanks to Jim Tooley and to USA Basketball for giving me my opportunity. I wore my red, white and blue with a lot of pride. Thank you to Val Ackerman who brought the women's game a long way in the USA. I accept this award on behalf of my family. I don't think it gets any bigger or better than this. I want to thank you from the hearts of all women for including us in this home."

Andrew Gaze
"First of all, congratulations to all associated with the House of Basketball. Great things happen in an atmosphere of greatness and certainly that is the case here. All looks well for the future of FIBA and basketball. I came from a generation of talented Australian basketball players. Any of them could be standing here today in my place. I am the fortunate one and a lot of it is because of the influence of my father (2010 FIBA Hall of Fame inductee Lindsay Gaze). He pushed basketball and built it in Australia along with (International Basketball Foundation President) Bob Elphinston. I am very humbled by this honour. I thank Mr James Naismith for inventing this game because without it I would be buggered!"

Paula Goncalves
"I would like to tell you about my relationship with basketball, because I dedicated 28 years of my life to it. None of what I achieved would have been possible without my parents who me the courage that I needed. I had a dream to play basketball for my country. I never thought that one day I would be honoured by FIBA, basketball's foremost authority. I would like to thank my team-mates, coaches, the media and all of Brazil who helped and supported me."

Valentin Lazarov
"I am in a very special emotional state so it's very difficult for me to present to your attention a really moving speech. Years are passing by very fast. Suddenly I realise I have reached an almost Biblical age - I am as old as FIBA! A year or so ago, for my birthday, I received a lot of awards, cups, titles etc...from the government, minister of sport, olympic committee, municipality, basketball federation, referees commissions. But believe me, the great honour of being inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame is much much more valuable to me than the sum of all those cups, titles, awards. I want to express my very deep and sincere gratitude to (FIBA Secretary General Emeritus) Borislav Stankovic, my friend and the President of FIBA Yvan Mainini and (FIBA Secretary General) Patrick Baumann. Thank you to all my former colleagues with whom I officiated hundreds and hundreds of games and then conducted referees' clinics. Thank you to FIBA for giving meaning to my existence and my life, in which I have consecrated more than 60 years to basketball."

Costas Rigas
"When I blew my whistle for the first time 50 years ago, I could not imagine such a moment. It is a great honour to be inducted among such greats. I am very proud to be here and inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame. I am very grateful to FIBA, especially to Mr Stankovic who gave me the opportunity to travel all over the world and make friends. As a referee, what is most important isn't what games you call, but the friendships that you develop. I would like to share this honour with my colleagues on the court. Mr Mainini was one of them. (FIBA Sports Director) Lubomir Kotleba was another. And so was (FIBA Americas Secretary General) Alberto garcia. I always remember their contributions in the development of basketball. Thanks to all of them for making me a better person. Thank you also to today's referees who I have the honour and am proud to teach. Thanks to players, coaches, basketball operatives with who there is respect and trust. This is an unforgettable day for my family and me."

David Robinson (video message)
"I want to thank FIBA for recognising me. The international basketball experience has been an unbelievable part of my life. I was able to participate in four major international competitions: the 1986 FIBA World Championship where we won the gold medal in Madrid; the Olympics in 1988, 1992 and 1996 including that wonderful '92 Dream Team. I think back to being 20 years old and winning the World Championship in Spain. It opened my eyes to a whole new world. USA Basketball and FIBA played a great role in my growth as an individual and a player. Who would have known that in 1992 that Dream Team would become global ambassadors and begin to spark a renaissance in basketball worldwide that's come to a point where it is today. I'm very proud of being part of that tradition. I think about FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell who were incredible inspirations for us as a generation. They went through some things that I'm not sure I would have been able to go through and they set the stage for us to be able to accomplish what we have. So I want to thank them."

Jim Tooley: "It's my pleasure to accept this honour on David Robinson's behalf. We all know David Robinson as a Hall of Fame player, but as Yvan Mainini said, he is also a Hall of Fame person. A great person off the court. This is a very special day for USA Basketball as we have Pat Summitt and Teresa Edwards, one of my favourite people, also being inducted."

Cesar Rubini (Giorgio Rubini accepting on his behalf)
"Cesare is still here in spirit with us. He loves to be present in all important ceremonies. In the first row is where he likes to be. It is enough that over his basketball career he won more than 80 percent of his game. His life is not lived with the idea to teach anything to anyone but rather how one should live and play sports. He had the character of those who have to absolutely win. In the USA, he was inducted into two hall of fames - basketball and water polo. Those two sports have in common the fact that the size of your hands is very important."

Zoran Slavnic
"It is one magic day to be here. Hall of Fame - I can't believe it. I was the playmaker in a gold generation with Dragan Kicanovic and Drazen Dalipagic and with my coach Mirko Novosel who is here today. I am very proud. Thank you very much."

Pat Summitt (Holly Warlick accepting on her behalf)
"Thank you FIBA. Pat was a colleague of mine for 20 years. She was a mentor and still a very great friend of mine. She appologises for not being here but is very grateful for this award. She still has the passion for the game and still communicates with the players. It's a great joy to see her still around the game. I would like to say that what is important is to mentor young women and make sure they get great opportunities. Pat had the opportunity to coach Teresa Edwards and to coach against Magic Paula (Gonçalves). USA Basketball helped her start her career, gave her the chance and gave many women their chances. So her thanks go to them too."

Aldo Vitale
"I spent 46 years with FIBA and I think very few people had the privilege that I did of working with all three of FIBA's Secretary Generals to date. I had 10 years with Dr Renato William Jones, then for 26 years Borislav Stankovic supported me and the last 10 years Patrick Baumann. I am honoured to be in this fantastic building. I hope that basketball keeps growing and growing faster and faster and I wish all the best for all and a long life to FIBA."

FIBA