The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame named the former Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne and former Mystics general manager and head coach Mike Thibault to its 2026 class. Additionally, former Washington Bullets head coach Dick Motta was nominated to the 2026 class.
Delle Donne played in the WNBA from 2013-2023 for the Chicago Sky (2013-16) and the Mystics (2017-23), winning two WNBA Most Valuable Player awards and the 2019 WNBA Championship. Thibault was head coach of the Connecticut Sun (2003-12) and the Mystics (2013-22), where he led the Sun to two WNBA Finals appearances and the Mystics to two more in 2018 and 2019, culminating with a championship the latter year.
Advertisement
Delle Donne is now an advisor to Monumental Basketball and general manager of the USA Basketball women’s national team. Thibault is now the head coach of the Belgium women’s national basketball team.
Motta was a longtime head coach in the NBA, where he was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1971 and led the now Washington Wizards to the NBA championship in 1978. He has been retired since leaving the Denver Nuggets in 1997.
