On August 15, 2026 in Springfield, Mass., a trio of former WNBA stars — Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, and Chamique Holdsclaw — along with the legendary 1996 U.S. Olympic team that helped launch the league 30 years ago will earn basketball immortality as they are enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ahead of this weekend’s ceremonies, let’s take a closer look at these four members of the Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

Candace Parker

On April 8, 2008, Parker won her second straight NCAA title for the University of Tennessee, playing for the legendary Pat Summitt. The next day, she was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft by the L.A. Sparks. Just 39 days later, on May 17, she made history in her pro debut, posting 34 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in what remains the only 30-point debut in league history.

Parker is the sole player in WNBA history to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season — an achievement only previously matched by Wilt Chamberlain (1960) and Wes Unseld (1969) in the NBA. Parker added a second MVP trophy in 2013 and had eight more top-five finishes in MVP voting.

In 2016, she was named Finals MVP after leading the Sparks to their first WNBA title in 14 years. She later added two more championships — in 2021 with her hometown Chicago Sky and in 2023 with the Las Vegas Aces in her final pro season. She remains the only WNBA player to win championships with three different franchises.

At Tennessee, Summitt listed Parker’s position as G-F-C as a testament to her versatility on the court. Parker was a trailblazer for the concept of positionless basketball with her ability to do everything at an elite level – handle and pass like a point guard, shoot and drive like a wing, as well as post up, protect the rim, and rebound like a traditional big. It led to seven All-Star selections, seven All-WNBA First Team honors, two Olympic gold medals, and a Defensive Player of the Year honor.

And now, enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Elena Delle Donne

Delle Donne’s journey from high school to college, the WNBA, and eventually the Hall of Fame is unique in the challenges it presented along the way. After a standout high school career, Delle Donne was highly recruited before accepting an offer to play at the University of Connecticut. However, she left the school during the summer, giving up her scholarship to return home to Delaware to be close to her older sister, Lizzie, who was born deaf and blind, is unable to speak, and also has cerebral palsy and autism.

Delle Donne began her collegiate career at nearby University of Delaware, first as a volleyball player, before eventually returning to the hardwood and emerging as a collegiate basketball star despite multiple battles with Lyme disease that would impact her throughout her college and pro careers.

Selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, Delle Donne led the league in All-Star votes and went on to win Rookie of the Year honors in her first pro season. She won the first of her two MVPs in 2015 with the Sky before being traded to Washington prior to the 2017 season — a move that once again brought her closer to home and family.

The 2019 season proved to be a special one for Delle Donne as she became the first player to win MVP honors for multiple teams and the first WNBA player to enter the 50-40-90 club (51.5% FG, 43.0% 3P, 97.4% FT), all while leading the Mystics to their first WNBA championship. While injuries limited her career to 241 regular-season games and 40 playoff games over 10 seasons, Delle Donne left her imprint on the game forever.

Chamique Holdsclaw

Today, seeing a women’s basketball player on the cover of SLAM Magazine is commonplace with the popularity of the WNBA and women’s college basketball. But in 1998, it was revolutionary when the then-four-year-old publication put Holdsclaw on the cover of its 29th issue — with the New York City native donning a full Knicks uniform — ahead of her senior year at the University of Tennessee. 

At this point, Holdsclaw was already a legend in hoops culture, winning four state titles in high school for Christ the King in Queens, and helping Tennessee become the first team in NCAA women’s basketball history to win three straight championships, including Tennessee’s first-ever undefeated (39-0) season in 1998.

After her storied collegiate career, during which she was a two-time Naismith College Player of the Year (1998, 1999), Holdsclaw was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics, winning Rookie of the Year honors and earning the first of her six WNBA All-Star selections.

A year later, she helped lead Team USA to the Olympic gold medal at the Sydney Games. In 2002, she became the first WNBA player to sweep the scoring and rebounding titles in the same season. Over her 11-year WNBA career with the Mystics, Sparks, Dream, and Silver Stars, Holdsclaw averaged 16.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

1996 United States Olympic Team

It’s fitting to celebrate the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team as the WNBA celebrates its 30th anniversary season. Simply put, this team’s dominant performance — from its undefeated 52-game world tour leading up to the Olympics to winning the gold medal at the Atlanta Games — was critical to the launch of the WNBA later that year.

Following disappointing third-place finishes at the 1992 Olympics and 1994 World Championships, the 1996 national team was not only charged with bringing the gold back to the United States while playing on home soil, but also with elevating the profile of the women’s game as momentum was building for a women’s professional league in the U.S. 

With a roster packed with future Naismith Hall of Famers, including Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Katrina McClain, Rebecca Lobo, Teresa Edwards, and head coach Tara VanDerveer — who took a one-year hiatus from coaching at Stanford to lead the team — the U.S. squad finished a perfect 8-0 at the Olympics with an average margin of victory of 28.6 points.

That margin of victory pales in comparison to the impact that this team had on bringing attention to the women’s game and laying the foundation upon which the WNBA was built. Now, 30 years later, with the WNBA thriving, these pioneers get their due with enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.