Kobe Bryant in final NBA Hall of Fame list

Kobe Bryant poses in the press room with the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for "Dear Basketball," during the 90th Annual Academy Awards on March 4, 2018, in Hollywood, California. [AFP PHOTO / FREDERIC J. BROWN]

Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend killed last month in a helicopter crash, was among eight finalists named Friday for 2020 induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star in his first year of eligibility, is considered a certainty to join the ranks of the sport's immortals by being enshrined at the honor shrine in Massachusetts.