It’s perfectly fitting that Amar’e Stoudemire and Mike D’Antoni will enter the Hall of Fame together.
Two members of the “seven seconds or less” Suns, who revolutionized the NBA, headline the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2026, which was announced Saturday in Indianapolis at the Final Four. That class also includes an impressive lineup of WNBA and Olympic legends: Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw and the 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team.
Here is the full class:
• Amar’e Stoudemire is a six-time All-Star who averaged 21.4 points and 8.3 rebounds during his first eight seasons with the Phoenix Suns, then went on to star with the New York Knicks.
• Mike D’Antoni is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year who revolutionized the NBA game with his pace and space concepts.
• Doc Rivers is the sixth-winningest coach in NBA history and has won a ring coaching the 2008 Boston Celtics to the title. While he is a favorite punching bag of fans on social media (three blown 3-1 series leads in the playoffs will do that), he is a very deserving Hall of Fame choice. He has 114 playoff victories, fourth most all-time.
• Candace Parker is one of the greatest players in WNBA history, the only player to win MVP and Rookie Of the Year in the same season, she was a three-time WNBA champion and two-time league MVP.
• Elena Delle Donne is a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player and six-time All-Star who led Washington to its first WNBA championship in 2019.
• Chamique Holdsclaw won three NCAA championships at Tennessee, was the No. 1 pick in the draft and went on to be Rookie of the Year, a six-time WNBA All-Star and the 2002 scoring champion who averaged 16.9 points and 7.6 rebounds across her 11-year WNBA career
• Joey Crawford, a referee for 39 NBA seasons who holds the record for officiating 374 playoff games and 50 NBA Finals games, working every Finals series from 1986- 2015.
• Mark Few, the Gonzaga coach who has led the team to 26 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths and recorded at least 20 wins in every season as Gonzaga’s head coach.
The most obvious snub is Blake Griffin, who should get in the Hall in the coming years.
Enshrinement for the Class of 2026 is set for August at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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