Earlier this week we mentioned that Elena Delle Donne, former Washington Mystics star, and Mike Thibault, former general manager and head coach. were nominated for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2026. Additionally, former Washington Bullets head coach Dick Motta was also nominated.
Additionally, another former Mystics star, their first franchise player, Chamique Holdsclaw, was also nominated. Cat Ariall from Swish Appeal wrote a solid analysis on why she should be nominated and I encourage you to read her analysis.
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Holdsclaw was a 1996 Olympian, a multi-time WNBA All-Star and one of the best college basketball players of the 1990s, where she played for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Now, compared to Delle Donne or Candace Parker, Holdsclaw’s WNBA resume falls short. She never won an MVP award, nor played for a WNBA championship or runner-up team. But most of Holdsclaw’s career, especially early on, was spent on a Mystics team that often didn’t have much to root for.
There is no limit to the number of people who can be named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in a given year. But the commissions will not just hand out a trophy to each potential candidate. I mean, after all, Motta isn’t a Hall of Fame coach yet.
Do you think Holdsclaw should be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Let us know in the comments below.
