Last summer, the WNBA celebrated the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 that featured Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird. Come next summer, a new class will be enshrined in Knoxville, Tennessee.
On Thursday, the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 was announced, featuring eight new inductees, per
Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports.
The inductees will be Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Doris Burke, Isabelle Fijalkowski, Amaya Valdemoro, Kim Muhl, Barbara Kennedy-Dixon, and Cheryl Reeve.
Altogether, Parker has excelled at virtually every level of the game. In college, she led Tennessee to back-to-back national championships (2007 and 2008). She also won two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012). Additionally, Parker has won three WNBA championships (2016, 2021, 2022). All of whom with three different teams (LA Sparks, Chicago Sky, and Las Vegas Aces).
During the summer, Parker had her jersey retired by two of those teams, the Sparks and the Sky.
Delle Donne is one of the most decorated players in the game. She is a two-time WNBA MVP (2015, 2019). Also, Delle Donne won an Olympic Gold Medal in 2016. In 2019, she won a championship with the Washington Mystics.
Plus, she is the only player in WNBA history to achieve the so-called “50/40/90”. In other words, Delle Donne shot 50% from the field, 40% from the three-point line, and 90% from the free-throw line during the 2019 season.
This past April, Delle Donne decided to retire from the game.
Meanwhile, Reeve is the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx and Team USA. She is a four-time WNBA Coach of the Year and Champion as head coach of the Lynx. In 2024, she led Team USA to the Olympic Gold Medal at the Paris Olympics. So far, she has amassed 414 career wins.
The other Hall of Fame Inductees
Doris Burke is a famed sports commentator and analyst, most known for her work covering the NBA on ESPN. Prior to that, she was the voice for the New York Liberty.
Isabelle Fijalkowski is one of the best known players to come out of France. Altogether, she is the all-time leading scorer in France with 2562 points.
Amaya Valdemoro hails out of Spain, who won three WNBA championships with the Houston Comets in the 1990s.
Kim Muhl is the longstanding coach at Kirkwood College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Altogether, he has sent over 150 players to Division 1 programs and has a coaching record of 1078-173.
Barbara Kennedy-Dixon is best know for helping lead Clemson to the NCAA tournament in 1982. It marked the first year that the NCAA sponsored women's basketball. Kennedy-Dixon is the all-time leading scorer at Clemson and in the ACC with 3,113 points.
