Cheryl Reeve steps away from the WNBA grind for a Hall of Fame induction

“(I appreciate) the magnitude of this recognition of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the great work that has gone into this institution,” Reeve said. “To walk around and see the history of how much has been done years before I could ever have this opportunity to coach. Grateful to the WNBA because I think there was some consideration given schedule wise.”

Reeve will be joined by WNBA greats Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne in this year's class. Parker and Delle Donne also will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. Other inductees include ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke, Kirkwood Community College coach Kim Muhl, Spanish star Amaya Valdemoro, French great Isabelle Fijalkowski and Clemson's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Barbara Kennedy-Dixon.

Parker and Delle Donne were shocked to learn that Reeve was only the second WNBA coach to be honored.

“When you look at Cheryl’s career and what she’s done and all the winning and all the Hall of Famers she’s coached and then you look at her and she’s not ancient, like, that’s rare,” Delle Donne said. “That’s just how good she is and how long she’s been winning and doing it at a young age. Cheryl’s phenomenal. She made life really hard when we were playing against her.”

Reeve has won four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx, whom she has coached since 2010. She also led the U.S. women's Olympic team to an eighth consecutive gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games. Reeve has 378 victories and is one win behind Mike Thibault for the most all-time in WNBA history.

She has a chance to match Thibault on Sunday when the Lynx play the Dallas Wings.

Parker won three titles in the WNBA playing with three different teams: Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. She is the only player in league history to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season (2008).

She also won two titles while playing in college for Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, plus two Olympic gold medals and a second WNBA MVP award (2013).

“I'm super humbled to be going in with Elena and with the other inductees in the 2026 class,” Parker said.

Delle Donne won two league MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which came when she led the Washington Mystics to their lone WNBA championship. Delle Donne became the first player in league history to shoot more than 50% from the field, 40% from behind the 3-point line and 90% from the foul line.

Burke has covered basketball for ESPN since 1991 and in 2024 became the first woman to call the NBA Finals as a TV analyst. She was also the lead voice for the network in women's college basketball for many years. Burke played college basketball at Providence, scoring 1,372 points.

Valdemoro starred for the Spanish national team while playing on the 2004 and 2008 Olympic teams. She also was a member of the Houston Comets, winning three WNBA titles with the organization.

Muhl won 1,108 games and nine national titles at Kirkwood Community College in New Jersey. He had 37 consecutive 20-win seasons before retiring this past April.

Fijalkowski was a five-time French League champion and two-time EuroLeague winner. She was the French national team's all-time leading scorer with 2,562 points in 204 games.

Kennedy-Dixon had 3,113 points and 1,252 rebounds for Clemson. She was one of just eight players to have at least 3,000 points and 1,000 rebounds since the NCAA began sponsoring women's sports. Kennedy-Dixon died in 2018.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball