Tears, Larry David quips and more: Standout moments from Naismith Hall of Fame speeches

On Saturday, eight individuals and one team achieved basketball immortality. The 2026 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class featured Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw, the USA women’s 1996 Olympic gold medal squad, Amar’e Stoudemire, Mike D’Antoni (coach, contributor), Mark Few (coach), Doc Rivers and Joey Crawford (referee). Each of their induction stories was as distinct as the roles they played to grow the game.

Here are some of the best moments from Saturday’s induction ceremony.

Chamique Holdsclaw

Draft: 1999 first-round pick (No. 1 pick by Washington Mystics)

Career highlights: Six-time WNBA All-Star, led Tennessee to three straight NCAA titles (1996-98), two-time College Player of the Year, 1999 WNBA Rookie of the Year, 2002 WNBA scoring champion, 2000 Olympic gold medalist

From the speech: Having grown up in New York, Holdsclaw shared memories of the support she received from guys she shared courts with, including a fellow future basketball All-Star from her stomping grounds.

Chamique Holdsclaw HOF speech: “Before all of this there was Astoria Houses in Queens NY…When I was growing up girls were not allowed to play…but those young men saw something in me, advocated for me, and made sure I had a place on that court…I will never forget Ron Ron (Metta… pic.twitter.com/CuVA5dQupv

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) August 16, 2026

“If anyone tries to hurt her, I’ma knock y’all out,” she recalled Metta Sandiford-Artest, then known as Ron Artest, saying back in their days playing together. Throughout her speech, she thanked her wife, family and friends for supporting her through the ups and downs of her legendary career, which she says was influenced by fellow New Yorker Lamar Odom.

Mike D’Antoni

NBA coaching career span: First season 1997-98; final season 2020-21

Career highlights: Two-time NBA Coach of the Year (2005, 2017), ranks No. 22 in NBA history with 672 wins as head coach, assistant coach for the gold medal-winning 2012 USA Olympic team, named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors in 2008

From the speech: D’Antoni deferred his success to the family, friends, players and executives who trusted his vision for changing basketball. Throughout his career, D’Antoni wanted to increase pace and possessions while prioritizing long-range shooting. Over the decades, his vision helped the likes of Stoudemire, Steve Nash and James Harden establish era-defining legacies. But even when recognizing the opportunities he gave players such as Jeremy Lin, D’Antoni still passed the rock when it came to claiming credit for Linsanity.

“Jeremy — he was on a 10-day contract and close to being released, but my assistants kept telling me, ‘Just give him a chance.’ Boy, were they right,” he said. “Jeremy gave New York, and all of us, the ride of our lives.”

Doc Rivers

Coaching career span: 1999-2026

Career highlights: Sixth in NBA history with 1,180 wins as head coach, ranks No. 4 all-time with 114 career playoff wins, led Boston Celtics to two NBA Finals appearances (2010, 2008), won 2008 NBA title, NBA Coach of the Year in 2000, named among 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA history

From the speech: Welcomed by Boston’s big three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, Rivers started his speech lost for words, joking that his patented voice was “already raspy” after “coaching robbed it from me.” He reflected on growing up in Maywood, Ill., and attending Proviso East High, which produced 12 NBA players. Despite enough accolades to make anyone proud, Rivers recalled that beating his brother Grady was his proudest moment as a hooper. An emotional Rivers said his older brother was the first person he called after learning of his Hall of Fame nod.

Elena Delle Donne

WNBA career span: 2013 first-round pick (No. 2 pick by Chicago Sky)

Career highlights: Two-time WNBA MVP (2019, 2015), led Mystics to first WNBA title (2019), first WNBA player with 50/40/90 season, seven-time WNBA All-Star, four-time All-WNBA First Team, 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year, 2016 Olympic gold medalist with Team USA

“Having you as my vet helped his once very nervous rookie find her footing.”

Elena Delle Donne to her former teammate Sylvia Fowles during her Hall of Fame speech pic.twitter.com/kpdYbKFmN4

— espnW (@espnW) August 16, 2026

From the speech: One of the best shooters in WNBA history, Delle Donne started her speech by noting the presence of comedian Larry David and said she hoped to do a “prettay, prettay” good job. Throughout, Delle Donne shared gratitude for the support of her wife, Amanda; Sylvia Fowles, who was the first veteran to help her while she adjusted to the pros; and her father, who introduced her to basketball drills using a ladder (which they named Oscar) that mimicked defenders and showed how to use an oven mitt to hone her shooting follow-through.

Candace Parker

WNBA draft: 2008 first-round pick (No. 1 by Los Angeles Sparks)

Career highlights: Three-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA MVP, 2016 WNBA Finals MVP, 2020 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time WNBA All-Star and All-WNBA First Team selection, two-time Olympic gold medalist.

From the speech: An emotional Parker passed a basketball throughout her speech, dishing to her brother, Anthony, Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade and Cheryl Miller. Her gratitude extended to her children, former teammates and coaches who helped her establish one of basketball’s most notable careers, highlighted by her being the only WNBA player to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same year. While walking into hoops heaven, Parker talked to a basketball about the places they’ve journeyed together.

“We did a lot together. We dunked on UConn at UConn. We had our own signature shoe. We were the first woman to grace the cover of 2K. We won at every level for every team we ever played for. And now, we stand on the podium as first-ballot Hall of Famers.”

Amar’e Stoudemire

NBA Draft: 2002 first-round pick (No. 9 pick by Phoenix Suns)

Career highlights: Six-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year.

From the speech: Stoudemire thanked God and looked back on a childhood in which he routinely obeyed his mother as he sought a basketball career to lift his family out of poverty. It started in Lake Worth, Fla., where he and his father watched a game starring his cousin that fueled his hoops fire. Around that time, the Orlando Magic established a junior program for developing players that helped Stoudemire, whose nickname was STAT (“Standing Tall And Talented”), establish himself as one of the best forwards of his era and best dunkers in NBA history.

1996 women’s national team

Highlights: Went 8-0 (winning by an average of 28.6 points per game), helped establish the launch of the WNBA, now in its 30th season.

From the speech: Hall of Famers Teresa Edwards, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley, Rebecca Lobo and coach Tara VanDerveer reflected on the value of helping establish women’s basketball by winning gold on U.S. soil. To this day, Edwards says playing for the 1996 squad was like nothing else she has experienced, calling it “the greatest team I’ve ever played on.”

“I would put us up against anyone,” she said.

VanDerveer said the 1996 squad occasionally watches other national teams and quips in group chats about being able to beat them, a testament to the “30-year friendships” established by their historic run.

“It’s the highest honor, I believe, of our careers,” Leslie said. “We’re so thankful that the WNBA, the late, great David Stern, Adam Silver understood we had an opportunity for women’s professional basketball to thrive here in our country, and we’re so proud of where we are today.”