Candace Parker And Elena Delle Donne To Be Inducted Into The Hall Of Fame
The two openly queer former WNBA MVPs will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this August.
Featured Image: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images For The USOC
If there was ever a “no duh” Hall of Fame class, this would be it.
Because Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne—two of the most dominant, decorated, and openly gay players in WNBA history—are officially headed to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026, ESPN reported.
Let’s start with Parker, who is still the only player in league history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, and the only one to win titles with three different franchises—the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky, and Las Vegas Aces.
Across 13 seasons with the Sparks alone, she averaged 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, while stacking up seven All-Star selections, 10 All-WNBA honors, a Defensive Player of the Year award, and a Finals MVP. By the time both the Sparks and Sky retired her jersey in 2025, the question wasn’t whether she’d make the Hall—it was when.
Delle Donne’s game moved differently—quieter, surgical, and just as impossible to guard. A two-time MVP and 2019 champion with the Washington Mystics, she became the first WNBA player to enter the 50-40-90 club, finishing that season shooting 52% from the field, 43% from three, and 97% from the line.
She still holds the highest free-throw percentage in league history at 93.7%, which tracks for someone who built a career on making the hardest shots look routine. Before the WNBA, she led the nation in scoring at the University of Delaware and carried that same offensive precision into the league, transforming every team she played on into a contender.
Off the court, Delle Donne has been just as impactful, speaking openly about living with Lyme disease and advocating for disability awareness, inspired by her older sister.
Both players were named to the WNBA’s W25 team in 2021, marking them among the greatest to ever do it, and both brought home Olympic gold for Team USA.
The 2026 class will also include Amar’e Stoudemire and Doc Rivers, with the full list set to be officially announced on April 4. The induction ceremony will take place in August in Springfield, Massachusetts.
