Candace Parker calls Hall of Fame enshrinement ‘truly special’
PHOENIX — Candace Parker regarded as much as Chamique Holdsclaw and the 1996 US Olympic ladies’s basketball group rising up.
Now she and Elena Delle Donne will get to be enshrined with them within the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this 12 months.
“I am so happy for Chamique and I am so happy that she is getting her flowers. She deserves them,” Parker advised The Associated Press. “Obviously, Elena Della Donne and I grew up battling against one another and the ’96 team, I think we were all inspired by that. So I just think it’s, it’s truly special.”
Parker was honored to be half of the 2026 Hall of Fame class that additionally consists of Amar’e Stoudemire, Mike D’Antoni, Joey Crawford, Doc Rivers and Mark Few.
“It means so much, just to be in a club of people that I’ve always admired and looked up to and have paved the way. I think it’s super special,” Parker stated.
Parker gained three titles within the WNBA with three groups: Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. She’s the one participant in league historical past to win each the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the identical season.
She additionally gained two titles whereas enjoying in faculty for Tennessee beneath Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA MVP awards.
Holdsclaw stated she had photos on her wall rising up in New York of members of the 1996 Olympic group that began the run of eight straight gold medals for girls’s basketball and helped get the WNBA began.
“There’s 4 or 5 gamers on that group who I’ve photos of at my residence, Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley, Teresa Edwards“Holdsclaw stated.
Holdsclaw gained three straight titles at Tennessee from 1996 to ’98, the primary group to perform that. The 1998 championship was Tennessee’s first undefeated season at 39-0 and the Vols additionally set an NCAA document for essentially the most wins in a season at the moment. Parker Summit helpedt win her final two titles in 2007-08.
“She would be so proud right now,” Holdsclaw stated of her former coach. “I know she loved us both.”
Holdsclaw went on to an 11-year WNBA profession. The WNBA and the defunct ABL have been actually made potential by the 1996 group. The Americans went undefeated on the Atlanta Games and the curiosity the group generated with its barnstorming tour throughout the US main as much as the Olympics captured the eye of followers throughout the nation.
“The ’96 Olympic team was a really incredible group of women that were on a mission and accomplished the mission,” coach Tara VanDerveer stated. “It helped establish the ABL and the WNBA and I think it really was the rocket that was the foundation for the women’s basketball landscape now. I think it’s very exciting for all the players on the team and the coaches.”
Delle Donne gained two league MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which got here when she led the Washington Mystics to their lone WNBA championship. Delle Donne grew to become the primary participant in league historical past to shoot over 50% from the sphere, 40% from behind the 3-point line and 90% from the free throw line.
Stoudemire, who was the one NBA participant on this 12 months’s class, was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003 and a six-time All-Star. He spent the primary eight years of his profession with the Phoenix Sunsthe place he teamed with D’Antoni.
“It means everything from a basketball point of view,” Stoudemire advised the AP. “When you look back at my career not only as a pro, but even high school and, and nationally, and since I was a kid playing the game of basketball. I love the game. You play the game because you love it, and then you work to become the best you can possibly be, despite circumstances, and to get into the Hall of Fame, it shows that the voters appreciate it. And now we’re enshrined forever.”
Rivers has 1,180 victories on his resume, which places him eighth on the all-time wins listing. I’ve led the Boston Celtics to the NBA championship in 2008 and was additionally in cost of the LA Clippers throughout their Lob City period.
Few has gained 773 video games at Gonzaga in his profession on the faculty. He set the NCAA Division I males’s teaching document by profitable 81 video games in his first three years on the faculty. Few guided the Bulldogs to the nationwide championship recreation in 2017 and 2021.
Crawford officiated 2,561 regular-season NBA video games and 50 Finals video games over his 39-year profession. I’ve retired in 2016.
D’Antoni influenced the game along with his up-tempo philosophy that redefined offensive technique. He had practically 1,200 profession wins and was NBA Coach of the Year twice.
The Hall of Fame for the primary time honored members of the Hall of Fame class on the ladies’s Final Four on Friday night time. Parker, Holdsclaw and members of the 1996 Olympic group have been all in attendance in addition to Stoudemire and D’Antoni.
The enshrinement ceremony will happen in August on the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
