Candace Parker calls Hall of Fame enshrinement 'truly special' - ESPN

PHOENIX — Candace Parker looked up to Chamique Holdsclaw and the 1996 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team growing up.

Now she and Elena Delle Donne will get to be enshrined with them in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.

«I am so happy for Chamique, and I am so happy that she is getting her flowers. She deserves them,» Parker told The Associated Press. «Obviously, Elena Della Donne and I grew up battling against one another and the '96 team, I think we were all inspired by that. So I just think it's, it's truly special.»

Parker was honored to be part of the 2026 Hall of Fame class that also includes Amar'e Stoudemire, Mike D'Antoni, Joey Crawford, Doc Rivers and Mark Few.

«It means so much, just to be in a club of people that I've always admired and looked up to and have paved the way. I think it's super special,» Parker said.

Parker won three titles in the WNBA with three teams: Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. She is the only player in league history to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

She also won two titles while playing in college for Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA MVP awards.

Holdsclaw said she had pictures on her wall growing up in New York of members of the 1996 Olympic team that started the run of eight straight gold medals for women's basketball and helped get the WNBA started.

«There's four or five players on that team who I have pictures of at my home, Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley, Teresa Edwards,» Holdsclaw said.

Holdsclaw won three straight titles at Tennessee from 1996 to 1998, part of the first team to accomplish that. The 1998 championship was Tennessee's first undefeated season at 39-0, and the