Candace Parker, Blake Griffin and Kelvin Sampson are the frontrunners on the Hall of Fame candidate list

Three-time WNBA champion Candace Parker, five-time All-NBA forward Blake Griffin and three-time Final Four head coach Kelvin Sampson are among the newcomers eligible to be voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.

The eligibles were announced Friday by the Hall of Fame — a group that for the first time also included the 1996 USA Basketball women’s national team, as well as Mike D’Antoni, Jamal Crawford, Elena Delle Donne, Joe Johnson and Bruce Pearl.

“The inductees for the Class of 2026 have each left an indelible impact on the game of basketball,” Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame CEO John L. Doleva said in a news release announcing the inductees. “By defining achievements, influential leadership and achievements that have helped elevate the sport on the national and international stage, this year’s vote recognizes those whose legacies continue to shape the way the game is played, coached and celebrated.”

Parker is perhaps the most accomplished of the group with three WNBA titles, two MVP awards, ten All-WNBA nominations and seven All-Star appearances during a 16-year professional career that included stints with the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces. Before her professional career, she led the Tennessee Lady Vols to national titles in 2007 and 2008.

Pearl and Sampson are notable in that they both left their head coaching jobs under the cloud of NCAA violations, but returned to lead programs to multiple Final Fours. Sampson left Indiana and received a five-year show-cause penalty before taking over at Houston in 2014 and leading the Cougars to the Final Four in 2021 and 2025. Pearl received a three-year show-cause penalty after six seasons at Tennessee, but returned to Auburn in 2014 and led the Tigers to the NCAA semifinals in 2019 and 2025 before abruptly resigning this fall.

The finalists will be announced at a later date, with the entire class unveiled during the men’s Final Four weekend in Indianapolis. The class will be enshrined the weekend of August 14 at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

A complete list of suitable candidates was drawn up posted on the Hall of Fame website.