The Class of 2026 got its flowers on Saturday, as retired WNBA forwards Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne and current Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve officially entered the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Two-time MVPs Parker and Delle Donne both enter with Olympic gold and WNBA titles to their names, as the pair gears up for another induction into the Naismith Basketball HOF later this summer.
“I wouldn’t have won a championship if I didn’t play against Candace, and go through the headache of playing her,” said Delle Donne.
Reeve’s honor came alongside the Minnesota boss’s 379th career victory, tying ex-Mystics coach Mike Thibault for most regular-season WNBA wins.
“This game has given me a fulfilling lifetime of joy,” Reeve said. “To share the Hall with so many women’s basketball greats makes me glad I never got a real job.”
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame is ushering in a blockbuster new class, announcing a list of its 2026 inductees this week with honorees spanning four players, two coaches, an ESPN contributor, and a posthumous veteran standout.
Two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker (LA Sparks, Chicago Sky, Las Vegas Aces) headlines the player lineup, with the three-time WNBA champion joined by 2019 WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky, Washington Mystics) and French standout Isabelle Fijalkowski (Cleveland Rockers), as well as three-time WNBA champ with the Houston Comets Amaya Valdemoro.
Minnesota Lynx manager and four-time WNBA Coach of the Year Cheryl Reeve also received a nod alongside nine-time national championship-winning Kirkwood Community College head coach Kim Muhl and former Clemson great Barbara Kennedy-Dixon, while ESPN analyst Doris Burke snagged an honor for her decades-long coverage.
Calling the Class of 2026 "eight distinguished legends of this exceptional sport," Hall of Fame president Dana Hart said in Friday’s release that "They exemplify the highest standards in women's basketball and have made substantial contributions to the sport, along with shaping the game's historical trajectory."
The formal induction ceremony of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will take place at Knoxville's Tennessee Theatre on June 27th.