Warriors president Rick Welts has been inducted into the Hall of Fame

Friday night was the 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony. 13 of the most influential and important people in the history of the sport were added to the prestigious hall. And one of them was none other than Rick Welts, the president and COO of the Golden State Warriors.

Welts has spent nearly his entire adult life working in the NBA. He helped found the WNBA, played a huge part in creating All-Star Saturday, was behind the marketing of the Dream Team, and is the first openly gay executive in the league. And that’s just the start of his list of accomplishments and achievements.

So naturally, it was only a matter of time before Welts was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and Friday was that special day for him. Check out his induction and his incredibly touching speech, which featured a letter he wrote to his younger self.

That is pretty incredible stuff.

Welts wasn’t the only person on the Warriors staff to be inducted to the Hall of Fame Friday night. Special consultant Steve Nash was also one of the 13 people inducted.

Here’s the full list of 2018 inductees:

Ray Allen (10-time NBA All-Star)
Maurice Cheeks (four-time NBA All-Star)
Lefty Driesell (led four teams to the NCAA tournament)
Grant Hill (seven-time NBA All-Star)
Jason Kidd (10-time NBA All-Star)
Steve Nash (two-time NBA MVP)
Tina Thompson (nine-time WNBA All-Star)
Dino Radja (EuroLeague star)
Charlie Scott (five-time ABA/NBA All-Star, first African-American scholarship player at UNC)
Ora Mae Washington (member of 11 consecutive Women’s Colored Basketball Championships teams)
Rod Thorn (50+ years as NBA player, coach, and executive)
Rick Welts (president of the Warriors)
Katie Smith (seven-time WNBA All-Star)

For more on Welts’ amazing story, check out his interview with Anthony Slater.