SPRINGFIELD, MASS. ? Entering the Hall of Fame together didn’t end the rivalry between Robert Parish and James Worthy, stars of the 1980s showdowns between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.

“Robert,” Worthy said Friday night, “I think I still owe you a couple of elbows.”

Parish, known for his stoic on-court demeanor, actually smiled at the remark. And he poked fun at himself in his acceptance speech.

“You might not believe this, but I hated basketball” as a 6-foot-6 seventh-grader in Shreveport, La. “I couldn’t catch it. I couldn’t hold it. I couldn’t pass it. I couldn’t shoot it.”

He credited his junior high school coach, Coleman Kidd, with seeing “something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”

By the time he joined the Boston Celtics in 1980, there was no doubt about his talent. Worthy’s skills were equally evident at North Carolina and as the top pick in the 1982 draft by the Lakers.

Parish and Worthy joined five other new members for the induction ceremony — Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters, NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd, longtime Louisiana Tech women’s coach Leon Barmore, Italian player Dino Meneghin and the late Chick Hearn, who broadcast 3,338 straight Lakers’ games.

Like Parish, Worthy was a reluctant basketball player.

“I just hated the sport” as a youngster, he said. But he played so he could get a scholarship and help his parents, who were supporting his two older brothers in college.

Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, from left, James Worthy, Earl Lloyd, Robert Parish, Meadowlark Lemon and Dino Meneghin, pose prior to the jacket-presentation ceremony. Those five, plus the late Chick Hearn, were inducted into the hall Friday in Springfield, Mass.

“That was the only reason I wanted to play basketball,” Worthy said.

As their careers progressed, there were other reasons to play. One was the desire for a championship. Parish won three with the Celtics, Worthy won three with the Lakers, but both played third fiddle on their teams.

Parish was just one part of “The Big Three” of the Boston Celtics with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. Worthy had a supporting role in “Showtime” with the Los Angeles Lakers with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson.

Hearn watched all their matchups.

Hearn didn’t miss a game from Nov. 21, 1965, through Dec. 16, 2001 and died Aug. 5, 2002 at age 85 after a fall at his home. He left an indelible mark on the game, giving Worthy the nickname “Big Game James” and coining the term “slam dunk.”

Lloyd, 74, was elected in the veterans category. He was the first black player in the NBA, debuting with the Washington Capitals in 1950.

Barmore was 576-87 in 20 seasons as women’s coach at Louisiana Tech, an .869 winning percentage, the best in women’s college basketball history.

Meneghin was a top international player, competing in four Olympics for Italy and leading his club to a record seven Cup of Champions titles.

Lemon was known as the “clown prince of basketball” for his antics with the Globetrotters.