February 12, 2026
There are milestones in sports that feel inevitable — moments you’ve been quietly counting down to, even if you never said so out loud. The announcement that Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne are among the finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 is one of those moments. For anyone who has watched women’s basketball over the past two decades, this news doesn’t feel like a surprise. It feels like a long-overdue arrival.
These are two women who didn’t just play the game — they changed what the game looked like, what it demanded, and what it could be.
Candace Parker: The Blueprint
Parker is the only player in WNBA history to win championships with three different franchises — the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky, and Las Vegas Aces. That fact alone would be remarkable. But it barely scratches the surface of what she meant to basketball.
She’s still the only player in WNBA history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, back in 2008. She walked into the league and immediately rewrote its record books. Before that, she was a three-time All-American at Tennessee, winning back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008, and she famously won the dunk contest at the McDonald’s All American Game in high school — a flash of showmanship and athleticism that announced, clearly, that something different had arrived.
One of the first true positionless basketball players, Parker combined size, skill, and vision in a way the women’s game had rarely seen. She played with a 6’4″ wingspan and a point guard’s instincts. She passed like a maestro, defended with authority, and scored from anywhere. She was, in the truest sense of the phrase, ahead of her time.
Her legacy goes beyond rings and trophies. She played through motherhood, through a long career that stretched across franchises and generations of teammates. When she came home to Chicago in 2021 and led the Sky to a championship, the city rejoiced — and so did anyone who had ever rooted for a player to get the ending they deserved.
Elena Delle Donne: The Artist
If Parker was the blueprint for modern women’s basketball, Elena Delle Donne was its purest shooting star.
Delle Donne became the first WNBA player to shoot 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% on free throws — the so-called 50-40-90 club, a standard of shooting perfection so rare in basketball that only a handful of players have ever achieved it at any level. She didn’t just hit shots; she made the act of scoring look effortless and inevitable, like watching someone solve a math problem they’d already worked out in their head.
Delle Donne is the only player in WNBA history to win MVP honors with multiple franchises — with the Chicago Sky in 2015 and the Washington Mystics in 2019. That second MVP came alongside one of the most resonant moments in WNBA history: leading the Washington Mystics to their first championship in 2019.
What makes her story especially moving is the full picture of who she is beyond the box score. She has openly shared her battle with Lyme disease, which has at times made playing basketball an act of pure will. She has been an advocate for her sister, Lizzie, who has autism and is deaf and blind, and who sits courtside at games. Basketball, for Delle Donne, has always been about something larger than the game itself.
A Moment for Women’s Basketball
Joining Parker and Delle Donne as women’s committee finalists are Chamique Holdsclaw, Jennifer Azzi, and the legendary 1996 United States Women’s National Team — a group that, perhaps more than any other, laid the groundwork for everything that has followed.
That 1996 team, nicknamed the Women’s Dream Team, defeated opponents by an average of 28.6 points per game en route to the gold medal and is credited with helping launch the WNBA the following year. Its fingerprints are on every buzzer-beater, every sold-out arena, every young girl who ever watched a game and thought: I want to do that.
“The candidates for the Class of 2026 have each left an indelible impact on the game of basketball,” said Hall of Fame president John Doleva. “Through defining performances, influential leadership, and achievements that helped elevate the sport on the national and international stage, this year’s ballot recognizes those whose legacy continues to shape how the game is played, coached, and celebrated.”
Springfield Awaits
The final Class of 2026 will be announced during NCAA Final Four weekend on April 4, with formal enshrinement ceremonies scheduled for August in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Notable new candidates for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 include the 1996 USA Basketball Women’s National Team, Mike D’Antoni, Jamal Crawford, Blake Griffin, Joe Johnson, Bruce Pearl, and Kelvin Sampson. Marv Albert, Mark Few, Doc Rivers, and Amar’e Stoudemire are among returning eligible candidates.
When Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne walk into that building, they won’t just be joining a Hall of Fame. They’ll be carrying with them every girl who grew up watching them, every teammate who stood beside them, every moment that proved women’s basketball is not a footnote — it is the story.
It’s a long time coming. And it’s going to be beautiful.