Sparks’ Candace Parker Earns 2026 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Induction

The Sparks legend earned a Hall of Fame induction, per a recent announcement.
Feb 14, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Candace Parker before the game during the 2025 NBA Rising Stars Game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Feb 14, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Candace Parker before the game during the 2025 NBA Rising Stars Game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Former Los Angeles Sparks' star Candace Parker will be inducted into the 2026 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame class on June 27, per an Oct. 30 announcement.

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Parker joins WNBA icons Elena Delle Donne and Cheryl Reeve in receiving the honor. ESPN announcer Doris Burke will also be inducted.

"We are honored to pay tribute to eight distinguished legends of this exceptional sport," Hall of Fame president Dana Hart said, per release. "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."

The announcement comes just months after league legends in Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore were inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in a Sept. 6 ceremony.

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Parker will first be eligible for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2027 — after retiring from professional basketball last year.

She spent 13 illustrious seasons with the Sparks and led the purple and gold to a WNBA championship in 2016. Furthermore, Parker had her No. 3 jersey retired into the Crypto.com Arena rafters at halftime of the Sparks' June 29 contest against Chicago.

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Ben Geffner
BEN GEFFNER

Ben Geffner is an award-winning sports journalist and current student at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. A greater Los Angeles native now with countless years of extensive and dedicated experience — including beat reporting, writing, play-by-play broadcast, television anchoring, podcasting and video production — Ben remains eager to contribute as credentialed media covering the LA Sparks.

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