Some of the first names to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2026 class are starting to leak out, and the early wave includes some of the game’s legends.
According to ESPN, former Suns and Knicks forward and center Amar’e Stoudemire, former Los Angeles Sparks icon Candace Parker, former Sky and Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne and longtime NBA coach Doc Rivers, currently with the Milwaukee Bucks, are among the first four members to be enshrined.
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The Hall has not issued any statement concerning the induction of the four and did not initially respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY Sports.
Stoudemire, a six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection, was the 2002-03 NBA Rookie of the Year, beating out Yao Ming, Caron Butler and Manu Ginóbili for the honor. He played for four teams across 14 seasons, adding stops with the Heat and Mavericks later in his career.
Parker, a current analyst for Amazon Prime and Turner, was a seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time league Most Valuable Player. She is also a three-time WNBA champion and was the anchor for the Sparks with her two-way dominance. In 2021, in honor of the league’s 25th season, the WNBA released the W25, a list of the greatest and most influential players in the league’s history. Parker was named to that list.
So was Delle Donne, who had been the only player in history to be named WNBA MVP with two different teams, before Breanna Stewart joined her in 2023. A five-time All-WNBA selection and seven-time All-Star, Delle Donne won a WNBA Finals championship in 2019 as a member of the Mystics. She led the league in scoring in 2015, with 23.4 points per game.
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Rivers has been tied to the NBA since 1984, when he entered the league as a point guard for the Atlanta Hawks. A one-time All-Star, in 1988, Rivers found success as a head coach, where he currently ranks sixth on the all-time list for victories, with 1,191, which is 19 behind Pat Riley. As a coach, Rivers has two NBA Finals appearances, with one championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. That team, led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, toppled the Lakers in the Finals in six games. Rivers has coached for five teams across 27 seasons and also has stops with the Magic, Clippers and 76ers. This season, amid injuries and a roster in the middle of transition, the Bucks are just 29-45 and have been officially eliminated from playoff contention.
Other finalists who are up for induction include six-time All-Star Blake Griffin, three-time All-Star Kevin Johnson, six-time WNBA All-Star Chamique Holdsclaw and former official Joey Crawford.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will announce the full Class of 2026 Saturday, April 4, and enshrinement weekend is set to begin Aug. 14.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who made Basketball Hall of Fame? Some members of 2026 class leaked
