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Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Candace Parker, Amar'e Stoudemire inducted

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs03/31/26grant_grubbs_

Amar’e Stoudemire, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and Doc Rivers are among the members inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. The complete list of inductees will be announces on April 4. Look below to see the Class of 2026 finalists.

  • Joey Crawford
  • Mark Few
  • Blake Griffin
  • Kevin Johnson
  • Gary McKnight
  • Dick Motta
  • Doc Rivers
  • Kelvin Sampson
  • Amar’e Stoudemire
  • Jerry Welsh
  • Buck Williams
  • 1996 Women’s US National Team
  • Jennifer Azzi
  • Elena Delle Donne
  • Chamique Holdsclaw
  • Candace Parker
  • Marques Johnson
  • Molly Bolin-Kazmer
  • Dusan Ivkovic
  • Tal Brody
  • Mike D’Antoni

The 2026 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees will be permanently memorialized on August 14-15 later this year. Stoudemire was a six-time NBA All-Star, four-time All-NBA First-Team selection and a 2007 All-NBA First-Team member.

He was the 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year. His No. 32 jersey is retired by the Phoenix Suns. As for women’s basketball, there are few former WNBA players more accomplished than Candace Parker.

Parker played in the WNBA from 2008-23. She won three WNBA championships, and was the Finals MVP in 2016.

Parker was a two-time league MVP and seven-time All-WNBA First-Team honoree. Additionally, she is a two-time AP Female Athlete of the Year. Parker was achieving great heights far before she ever stepped foot in the WNBA.

Parker played at Tennessee from 2004-08. She led the Volunteers to two consecutive national titles (2007, 2008). On both occasions, she was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

Parker boasts the third-most career points in Tennessee women’s basketball history and is widely-considered one of the best players of the Pat Summitt era. In 2016, Parker raved about her former head coach.

“She’s a legend that’s touched so many lives outside the realm of basketball and really grown the game,” Parker said of Summitt. “She’s changed the way women’s basketball is played, and the nature of women’s basketball.

“I know everyone that’s been in contact with her can agree: She changes the individual. She’s changed the way I look at life and the way all of her players do. She’s not someone who just talks the talk; she walks the walk as well. She does exactly what she says she’s going to do.”

While Doc Rivers’ playing career wasn’t as storied as Parker’s, he’s also a legend of the game. Rivers has been an NBA head coach since 1999. In 2008, he led the Boston Celtics to their 17th championship in organization history.

In 2000, he was named the NBA Coach of the Year. Further, the NBA named him one of the 15 Greatest Coaches in league history as part of its 75-year anniversary. Rivers is currently the Milwaukee Bucks’ head coach.