Basketball HOF class of 2026 honors women's hoops, NBA icons - ESPN

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne used their Hall of Fame speeches to serve as a love letter to basketball.

The sport has given so much to them, culminating with enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

Parker carried a ball to the podium for her speech as part of the 2026 class that also included the 1996 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team, Chamique Holdsclaw, NBA player Amar'e Stoudemire, longtime NBA official Joey Crawford, NBA coaches Doc Rivers and Mike D'Antoni, and Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

«It felt weird to walk on the stage without the reason I'm here today,» Parker said, talking to the ball. «We did a lot together: dunk on UConn at UConn, shimmied over our right shoulder and hit that sick fadeaway, had our own signature shoe, first woman to grace the cover of NBA 2K.… We stand on this podium as first-ballot Hall of Famers.»

Parker, who won three WNBA titles, two MVPs, a pair of championships at Tennessee and two Olympic gold medals, then broke down while closing her speech, saying that «we were meant to be a love story that began 27 years ago.»

Delle Donne also used her speech as a love letter to the game with all the ups and downs she faced in her career. But she always kept life in perspective, thanks to her older sister, Lizzie, who is blind and deaf.

«She never played in front of thousands of people, never had a standing ovation, never been interviewed after a big win. Yet, I've never met anyone stronger,» Delle Donne said, choking up. «Thank you all for keeping me going.»

Delle Donne won MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which came when she led the Washington Mystics to their lone WNBA championship. Delle Donne became the first