Zelmo Beaty and the Utah Stars take on the Dallas Chaparrals in 1972. Public domain image published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice.

On the day that the Utah Jazz announce their D-League affiliate will become the Salt Lake City Stars, original Utah Stars legend Zelmo Beaty joins the Basketball Hall of Fame.

For fans of the Utah Stars, the ABA team that brought Salt Lake City its first major sporting championship in 1971 and introduced a 19-year-old Moses Malone to the basketball world, Monday was an incredible day.

In addition to the Utah Jazz honoring the team’s legacy by renaming it’s D-League squad the Salt Lake City Stars, the original Stars’ greatest player received the sport’s highest honor. In a correction of one of the great injustices in basketball history, Zelmo Beaty was announced as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2016 induction class.

Of Beaty’s past exclusion from the hoops hall, former Indiana Pacers coach and three-time ABA champion Bobby “Slick” Leonard had the best take.

From the late Dan Pattison’s profile of Beaty for RememberTheABA.com—

“There weren’t any lights or cameras when Zelmo played the game,” Leonard points out. “By that I mean that there wasn’t the television or cable TV that there is today. And there were a lot of players of that time, and even before my time, who are forgotten. When it comes to the Hall of Fame, Beaty falls into that category. People might have just forgotten what a competitor he was. That’s not right. But baby that’s life, too.”

With Monday’s announcement that Beaty will be enshrined at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, Big Z’s exploits will never be forgotten.

Beaty, who played with Utah for four seasons and was the cornerstone piece to the 1971 championship team, came to the Stars after seven seasons and two All-Star appearances with the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks. In 319 games with the Stars, Beaty averaged 19.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

He was also a three-time ABA All-Star, an ABA Playoffs MVP and was eventually named to the league’s All-Time team for his exploits with Utah.

In the 1971 ABA Finals, Beaty averaged better than 28 points per game to help the Stars down Dan Issel and the Kentucky Colonels. In the series-deciding seventh game, Beaty dropped 36 points and 16 rebounds on Issel and Co. to beat the Colonels 131-121 and capture the ABA title.

Beaty was previously inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.

When Beaty passed away in 2013, the NBA produced this excellent video package honoring his life and basketball career–

Big Z joins NBA legends Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal and Yao Ming in this year’s HOF class. Sheryl Swoopes, Tom Izzo, John McLendon, Darell Garretson, Jerry Reinsdorf and Cumberland Posey round out 2016’s inductees. The group will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame on Friday, September 9.

Beaty was class on and off the court, the ultimate team player and an amazing ambassador for the state of Utah. Without question, this is an incredible day in the history of Utah sports, the Beaty family and the basketball world.