Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and coach Cheryl Reeve headline the 2026 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame class that was announced Thursday.
Other players being inducted on June 27 include international stars Isabelle Fijalkowski of France and Amaya Valdemoro of Spain. Kirkwood Community College coach Kim Muhl and Barbara Kennedy-Dixon will also be inducted, as well as ESPN announcer Doris Burke.
“We are honored to pay tribute to eight distinguished legends of this exceptional sport,” said Hall of Fame President Dana Hart. “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.”
Parker won three WNBA championships for three different teams while also helping the U.S. win two Olympic gold medals.
Delle Donne was recently named the national team director of the USA Basketball 3-on-3 team. She announced her retirement in April from the WNBA. She won two MVPs, made seven All-Star appearances in 11 seasons and helped the Washington Mystics win a league championship in 2019.
Reeve has won four titles in her 16 years in charge of the Minnesota Lynx. She’s won WNBA Coach of the Year four times and the league’s Executive of the Year twice. She also led the U.S. women’s basketball national team to a gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Burke has been a basketball voice for the past three decades, working at ESPN since 1991. She was a huge part of the network’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament and WNBA. She also was a trailblazer working on ESPN’s men’s college basketball coverage starting in 2003 and then the NBA that same year. She later became part of the network’s lead broadcasting team in 2023.
Valdemoro won three titles with the Houston Comets from 1998 to 2000. She also won eight Spanish League titles. Valdemoro played for Spain in the two Olympics in 2004 and 2008.
Fijalkowski won five French League championships and played for the Cleveland Rockers for two years in the WNBA.
Muhl has won over 1,000 games in his time in his nearly four decades of coaching. He led his teams to nine national championships.
Kennedy-Dixon played at Clemson and was the first Division I women’s college basketball scoring leader in 1982, when women’s hoops became an NCAA sport.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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