The National Basketball Hall of Fame honors the best players, coaches, executives and media members from across the college and pro ranks for both men and women.

The best of the best are enshrined in the gorgeous halls of the historic venue.

On Saturday, this year’s inductees were announced, and a few well-known names will be honored in this year’s class.

Two-time NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady headlined the group that also included Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self, former Chicago Bulls executive Jerry Krause, former UConn women’s basketball star Rebecca Lobo and Notre Dame women’s coach Muffet McGraw.

McGrady played 15 years in the NBA and led the Association in scoring for the Magic in consecutive seasons (2002-2003 and 2003-2004).

After finding out the news, the 37-year-old was overcome with emotion:

"I did get emotional. I did start crying, I'll tell you that," McGrady told ESPN. "I was trying to call my wife once I got off the phone, but my eyes were so watery, and I was so nervous, I was opening up every app on my phone but the right one to make a call."

Over the course of his career, McGrady was often criticized for both not being a part of many contending teams and also not reaching his potential on an individual level. However, as he explained to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, he felt vindicated after receiving the phone call:

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” McGrady said. “You’re talking about going into a class of greatness. Legendary. This is forever. It doesn’t matter how many playoff games you lost. What you didn’t accomplish. None of that matters. It’s what I did do. What I did accomplish over my career. To be honored with this prestigious award is phenomenal.”

McGrady averaged 19.6 points per game with the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks and was selected to seven All-Star games. But, he never won a championship.

Therefore, he’s treating this as his championship.

“There’s probably one time in my career where out of all the times I’ve been in the playoffs I was favored to win a series,” he told NBA.com. “That was back in 2007 with the Houston Rockets having home-court advantage against the Utah Jazz, when they beat us in seven games. But prior to that, I was always the underdog. Never really had a championship-contender team. I fell lots throughout my career in the playoffs."

He went on, "This is not about being good. This is not about being great. This is about being with greatness.Greatness for your entire career and being honored for that greatness. With greatness, right? This is elite. It doesn’t matter how many championships. Anybody can be a champion. But everybody can’t be in the Hall of Fame. This is it. This is my championship.”

For one of the biggest fan favorites to play the game in recent memory, it’s nice to see him receive the highest accolade possible on an individual level.

Judging by his words after receiving the news, it means the world to him.