Candace Parker Calls Hall of Fame Enshrinement Special
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- Candace Parker headlines the 2026 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class alongside Elena Delle Donne, Amar'e Stoudemire, Mike D'Antoni, Joey Crawford, Doc Rivers, Mark Few, and the 1996 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team; enshrinement is set for August in Springfield, Massachusetts.
- Parker is the only WNBA player in history to win both MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season, captured three WNBA titles with three different franchises (Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas), two Olympic golds, and two NCAA titles under Pat Summitt at Tennessee.
- The 1996 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team is enshrined as a unit; the squad went undefeated at the Atlanta Games, launched a run of eight straight Olympic golds, and their pre-Olympics barnstorming tour is credited with helping establish both the WNBA and the ABL.
- Chamique Holdsclaw, part of that 1996 team, won three straight NCAA titles at Tennessee (1996-1998) on the first team to three-peat, with the 1998 squad going 39-0 for Tennessee's first undefeated season.
- Elena Delle Donne won WNBA MVPs in 2015 and 2019, leading the Washington Mystics to their lone championship in 2019, and became the first player in league history to shoot over 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the free throw line.
- Amar'e Stoudemire, the lone NBA player in this class, was the 2003 Rookie of the Year and a six-time All-Star who spent his first eight seasons with the Phoenix Suns under fellow inductee D'Antoni, whose up-tempo philosophy reshaped offensive strategy and produced nearly 1,200 career coaching wins and two Coach of the Year awards.
Why it matters: The 2026 class is unusually weighted toward women's basketball, inducting Parker (the only WNBA player to sweep MVP and Rookie of the Year in one season), Delle Donne (the first 50/40/90 shooter in league history), and the 1996 Olympic team whose barnstorming tour built the WNBA — making the Final Four debut of the Hall ceremony itself a milestone moment for the league. For the NBA side, Stoudemire enters with his former Suns coach D'Antoni, the only active pairing of player and coach from the same championship-contending team in this class.
