Former NBA All-Star Blake Griffin and two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker are among the newcomers on this year’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ballot, the Hall announced Friday on ESPN’s NBA Live.
The first-time nominees for the Class of 2026 also feature three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford, the gold-medal-winning 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s team, college coaches Bruce Pearl and Kelvin Sampson, WNBA star Elena Delle Donne, seven-time NBA All-Star Joe Johnson, and longtime NBA coach Mike D’Antoni, who enters the process as a contributor.
Nearly 200 individuals and teams were listed. Several 2025 finalists who did not gain election return to the ballot, including Jennifer Azzi—also part of the 1996 Olympic women’s squad—Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, former NBA standouts Marques Johnson and Buck Williams, and Division III coaching great Jerry Welsh.
“The candidates for the class of 2026 have each left an indelible impact on the game of basketball,” Hall of Fame president and CEO John L. Doleva said in a statement. “This year’s ballot recognizes those whose legacy continues to shape how the game is played, coached, and celebrated.”
Finalists are expected to be revealed during NBA All-Star Weekend in February. The Class of 2026 will be announced April 4 at the NCAA Final Four, with enshrinement ceremonies scheduled for Aug. 14-15 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, and at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Other returning nominees include pioneering scorer Molly Bolin, Serbian coaching legend and FIBA Hall of Famer Dusan Ivkovic, NBA championship coach Doc Rivers—still the only coach with more than 1,000 career wins not yet enshrined—former All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire, and iconic broadcaster Marv Albert.
Teams back on the ballot range from three U.S. men’s Olympic squads (1936, 1972 and 1976) to the 1982 Cheyney State women’s team guided by C. Vivian Stringer, the Kentucky Wesleyan men’s program that won three Division II titles in a four-year span in the late 1960s, and the 1963 Loyola Chicago men’s championship team that was notable for regularly starting four Black players.
Source: ESPN
