“That group and that championship and doing it with the Boston Celtics, who hadn’t done it in 17 years at that point, crystallized my career for sure,” said Rivers.

A 13-year NBA player, Rivers coached the Magic before the Celtics, and the Clippers, 76ers, and Bucks since.

The enshrinement ceremony will take place in August at the Hall of Fame in Springfield.

It’s a memorable class across the board.

Candace Parker looked up to Chamique Holdsclaw and the 1996 US Olympic women’s basketball team growing up.

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Now Parker and Elena Delle Donne will be enshrined with those players.

“I am so happy for Chamique and I am so happy that she is getting her flowers. She deserves them,” Parker said. “Obviously, Elena Della Donne and I grew up battling against one another and the ’96 team, I think we were all inspired by that. So I just think it’s, it’s truly special.”

Parker was honored to be part of the Hall class that also includes Amar’e Stoudemire, Joey Crawford, Mike D’Antoni, and Mark Few.

Parker won three WNBA titles with three teams: Los Angeles, Chicago, and Las Vegas. She’s the only player in league history to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season.

She also won two titles while playing in college for Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, two Olympic gold medals, and two WNBA MVP awards.

Holdclaw said she had pictures on her wall growing up of members of the 1996 Olympic team that started the run of eight straight gold medals for women’s basketball and helped get the WNBA started.

“There’s four or five players on that team who I have pictures of at my home, Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley, Teresa Edwards,” Holdsclaw said.

Holdsclaw won three straight titles at Tennessee from 1996-98, the first team to accomplish that. The 1998 championship was Tennessee’s first undefeated season at 39–0, an NCAA record for wins in a season at that time. Parker helped Summitt win her last two titles in 2007-08.

“She would be so proud right now,” Holdsclaw said of her former coach. “I know she loved us both.”

Holdsclaw went on to an 11-year WNBA career. The WNBA and the defunct ABL were made possible by the 1996 team. The Americans went undefeated at the Atlanta Games and the interest the team generated with its barnstorming tour leading up to the Olympics captured the attention of fans across the United States.

Delle Donne won WNBA MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which came when she led the Mystics to their lone championship. She became the first player in league history to shoot over 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point line, and 90 percent from the free throw line.

Stoudemire was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003 and a six-time All-Star. He spent the first eight years of his career with the Suns, where his coach was D’Antoni.

“It means everything from a basketball point of view,” Stoudemire said. “When you look back at my career not only as a pro, but even high school and, and nationally, and since I was a kid playing the game of basketball. I love the game. You play the game because you love it, and then you work to become the best you can possibly be, despite circumstances, and to get into the Hall of Fame, it shows that the voters appreciate it. And now we’re enshrined forever.”

Few has won 773 games at Gonzaga University. He set the NCAA Division 1 men’s coaching record by winning 81 games in his first three years at the school. Few guided the Bulldogs to the national championship game in 2017 and 2021.

Crawford officiated 2,561 regular-season games and 50 NBA Finals games over his 39-year career. He retired in 2016.

D’Antoni influenced the sport with his uptempo philosophy that redefined offensive strategy. He had nearly 1,200 wins and was NBA Coach of the Year twice.

For the first time, the Hall of Fame class was honored at the women’s Final Four. Parker, Holdsclaw, and members of the 1996 Olympic team were in attendance on Friday in Phoenix, as well as Stoudemire and D’Antoni.