Doc Rivers, Candace Parker, Amar'e Stoudemire Headline 2026 Basketball Hall of Fame Class
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame officially announced its 2026 class, with Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers, two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker and six-time NBA All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire headlining the group.
Seven-time WNBA All-Star Elena Delle Donne and Gonzaga coach Mark Few are among the other luminaries to make the cut.
Basketball Hall of Fame 2026 Class
- 1996 United States Women's National Team
- Joey Crawford
- Mike D'Antoni
- Elena Delle Donne
- Mark Few
- Chamique Holdsclaw
- Candace Parker
- Doc Rivers
- Amar'e Stoudemire
Rivers has had plenty of critics over his coaching career, but he has won the sixth-most games in the regular season (1,192). Beyond winning a title with the Boston Celtics in 2008, he has also coached in the fourth-most playoff games (226). In both cases, all of the people ahead of him have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Parker is one of the greatest players in women's basketball history. She won a pair of titles at Tennessee and is the only person to win three WNBA championships with three different teams.
The 6'4" forward was the league Rookie of the Year and MVP in 2008, and she never looked back from there.
Injuries curtailed Stoudemire's NBA career. By his early 30s, he was a shell of his peak self. Still, fans fondly recall his exploits with the Phoenix Suns during their "Seven Seconds or Less" era.
Stoudemire averaged 21.4 points and 8.9 rebounds across eight seasons, and he was an All-NBA honoree in his first year with the New York Knicks (2010-11) before the injury problems did him in.
Likewise, persistent back trouble brought an end to Delle Donne's WNBA run, but the numbers from her first seven seasons speak for themselves. Between 2013-19, she averaged 20.3 points on 47.4 percent shooting, including 39.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Few is responsible for putting Gonzaga on the map. The men's team had made the NCAA tournament just twice before he took over for Dan Monson in 1999. The Zags subsequently became a mainstay in the Big Dance, reaching the Final Four in 2017 and 2021.
While Few hasn't brought a national title to Spokane, the impact of his tenure can't be overstated.
