One of the most beloved players in Portland Trail Blazers history is in the running for basketball’s most prestigious honor.

Buck Williams, a key piece of the dominant Blazers teams of the early 1990s, has been named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, it was announced Wednesday afternoon.

Williams joins an esteemed group of players, coaches and referees picked to be finalists by the North American Committee that includes coaches Dick Motta, Doc Rivers, Kelvin Sampson and Mark Few, Phoenix Suns greats Kevin Johnson and Amar’e Stoudemire and Los Angeles Clippers big man Blake Griffin. Those selected would be enshrined as part of the class of 2026.

Williams played 17 seasons in the NBA, including seven in Portland, where he blossomed into a linchpin of the most successful stretch in franchise history.

The Blazers acquired him in a trade with the New Jersey Nets before the 1989 season and they immediately flourished, winning 59 games in the regular season and reaching the NBA finals for the first time since the 1977 championship season. Portland went on play in the Western Conference Finals the following season and the NBA finals one season after that, achieving the greatest and most sustained run of success in franchise history.

Williams proved to be the missing link, arriving just as the Blazers’ core — Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, and Kevin Duckworth — was coming into its own. His infectious and unselfish playing style, which featured tenacious defense, relentless rebounding and an old-school toughness, proved to be perfect for a team that had been desperate for all three.

He averaged 12.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists, while shooting 55% from the field with the Blazers, Nets and New York Knicks in a career that stretched from 1981-98. The 6-foot-8 power forward was selected with the No. 3 overall pick of the 1981 draft after an All-American career at Maryland and, after averaging 15.5 points and 12.3 rebounds his first season, he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team.

Williams quickly grew into one of the NBA’s most respected players, earning three All-Star selections and four NBA All-Defensive Team nominations, including two on the first team. He led the NBA in offensive rebounds (355) in 1983-84 and played in all 82 games in four different seasons.

And now Williams, who also was a Hall of Fame finalist last year, is on the doorstep of history.

The candidacies of the finalists will now go to the honors committee to be considered for election as members of the Class of 2026. The Hall of Fame class will be announced on Saturday, April 4, in a live broadcast on ESPN2.