Doc Rivers, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Amar’e Stoudemire reportedly inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 was reportedly revealed Tuesday and includes an active coach, two of the greatest WNBA players of all time and a Phoenix Suns legend.
Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers, Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne, and Amar’e Stoudemire were reportedly chosen for induction, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
While Charania reported the news Tuesday, the official announcement isn’t expected until Saturday. The inductees will be announced at 12 p.m. ET that day on ESPN2. Those players will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame between Aug. 14 and Aug. 15.
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After a successful 13-year run as a player, Rivers established himself as a longtime NBA coach. After a promising early stint with the Orlando Magic, where Rivers went 171-168 over five seasons, the coach came into his own with the Boston Celtics.
During Rivers’ nine seasons with the team, the Celtics made the playoffs seven times. The team made it to the Finals twice, winning it all during the 2007-08 season and losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games during the 2009-10 season.
Rivers then spent seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers and three seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers before joining the Bucks ahead of the 2023-24 season.
In his 27 years as a head coach, Rivers has a .580 winning percentage. His 1,191 career victories rank sixth on the all-time list.
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Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne are WNBA legends
Widely considered one of the greatest WNBA players of all-time, Parker was a star the instant the No. 1 overall pick first took the court for the Los Angeles Sparks. She won the MVP award in her rookie season and earned countless other accolades that year, including winning Rookie of the Year, making first-team All-WNBA and finishing fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
In her 16 years in the league, Parker was a perennial MVP candidate. She won the award a second time in 2013, and posted eight other seasons in which she finished in the top five in voting. She also made seven All-WNBA first teams, won Defensive Player of the Year and won two WNBA championships over her career.
Delle Donne, similarly, got off to a tremendous start upon joining the WNBA. She experienced nearly unrivaled success in her first seven seasons, winning Rookie of the Year, taking home two MVP awards, being selected All-WNBA first team four times and winning a championship with the Washington Mystics.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and a back injury threatened to end Delle Donne’s career prematurely. She opted out of the 2020 “Wubble” season due to Lyme disease and played in just three games in 2021 due to a back injury that eventually required surgery.
Despite that injury, she returned to play two more seasons, making one more All-Star team before stepping away from the game in 2024 and officially retiring in 2025.
A special Sun
Stoudemire is the third member of the group to win Rookie of the Year. He turned in a fantastic start to his career with the Suns, earning MVP votes in four of his nine seasons with the team and making the All-NBA team in each of those seasons.
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His best season was 2004-05, when he averaged 26 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 blocks for the Seven Seconds or Less Suns, who won 62 games and reached the West finals
He was similarly excellent in his first season with the New York Knicks, earning an All-Star appearance and another top-10 MVP finish. Injuries disrupted his Knicks tenure, though Stoudemire eventually emerged as a strong off-the-bench option and occasional starter with the team.
In 2024, the Suns retired Stoudemire’s No. 32.
