Sports
Parker, EDD, Griffin among finalists for ’26 Basketball Hall of Fame class
Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne, both former WNBA MVPs and champions, headline the finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 announced Wednesday.
Parker is the only player in WNBA history to win championships with three franchises (the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces). One of the first true positionless basketball players, Parker was a phenom at every level — winning the dunk contest at the McDonald’s All American Game in high school, two national championships at Tennessee, two Olympic Gold medals and two WNBA MVP awards.
She’s still the only player in WNBA history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season (2008).
Delle Donne is also a two-time league MVP (2015 and 2019) who became the first WNBA player to shoot 50% from the field, 40% from 3 and 90% on free throws. She led the Washington Mystics to their first championship in 2019, cementing her legacy as one of the greatest pure shooters the game has seen.
Two members of the LA Clippers‘ “Lob City” era were also named as finalists. Six-time All-Star Blake Griffin turned around the fortunes of the beleaguered franchise with an electric, high-flying style, punctuated by his win in the 2011 slam dunk contest in which he jumped over a Kia automobile.
Griffin grew into a far more complete player over his 14 seasons in the league, finishing his career with more than 14,000 points and 3,000 assists.
Doc Rivers, who coached many of those Lob City teams, was also selected as a finalist. Rivers, whose 1,114 (and counting) career coaching wins rank eighth on the all-time list, led the Boston Celtics to an NBA championship in 2008. He is the current coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.
A’mare Stoudemire is a finalist again. Stoudemire averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds in 846 career games over 14 seasons for Phoenix, New York, Dallas and Miami, the first eight of which were for the Suns.
The 6-foot-10 forward/center was a six-time All-Star and an All-NBA first-team selection in 2006-07, forming one-half of a formidable pick-and-roll duo in Phoenix with point guard Steve Nash.
Stoudemire was also named the 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year after entering the league directly from high school.
Other player finalists include Kevin Johnson, Buck Williams and Marques Johnson. Official Joey Crawford is a finalist, as is Tal Brody, who helped shape Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball, and Mike D’Antoni, in the contributor category.
Other coaches besides Rivers include Gonzaga‘s Mark Few, Houston‘s Kelvin Sampson and Jerry Welsh, who coached Potsdam in upstate New York to NCAA Division III titles in 1981 and 1986. They’re joined by Gary McKnight and Dick Motta.
The 1996 gold medal-winning U.S. women’s national team will also be considered for induction, as will Jennifer Azzi, who was a member of that Atlanta Games team and is a finalist again as an individual. Accompanying her as a women’s committee finalist is Chamique Holdsclaw.
Molly Bolin-Kazmerm, the first player signed by the Women’s Professional Basketball League, is a returning finalist nominated by the women’s veterans committee.
The final Class of 2026 will be announced during the NCAA Final Four weekend in April, with the formal enshrinement ceremonies scheduled for August in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Former NFL linebacker Darron Lee will remain behind bars as he faces a first-degree murder charge in Tennessee.
Lee was taken into custody last week. In addition to the murder charge in the death of his girlfriend, Lee faces a charge of tampering with or fabricating evidence.
On Wednesday, a Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge ruled that Lee, who spent the first three years of his professional football career with the New York Jets, would stay jailed without bond.
Lee is not scheduled to return to court until next month, but prosecutors on Wednesday signaled the case could qualify for the death penalty.
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Former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee was arrested by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Feb. 6, 2025, and charged with first-degree murder and tampering with fabricating evidence. (Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com/Hamilton Country Sheriff’s Office)
While Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp made it clear there is no final decision concerning the pursuit of the death penalty, he did cite factors that could result in the case becoming eligible for capital punishment.
“Mr. Lee was in a home with a female (who) was, for lack of a better term, beaten to death,” Wamp said in court, arguing for the judge to withhold bond. “And the explanation that he gave doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.
“You walked in the door, there were boxes,” Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Det. Brian Lockhart said, according to NewsChannel9.
“A lot of stuff in the living room. The deceased was in the floor lying on her back. There was blood going up the staircase. On the hand railing there was blood. On the walls, there was blood. On the floor in the living room there was blood. On the floor in the hallway and the stairs.”
Darron Lee (50) of the Kansas City Chiefs sits on the bench during a game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field Sept. 29, 2019, in Detroit. (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
The victim in the case had been living in a rental home with Lee. The house is also believed to have been the site where Lee is alleged to have carried out the crime over an estimated 10-day period, Lockhart testified Wednesday.
The detective said he was present during the autopsy and learned the potential cause of death was blunt force trauma homicide. An autopsy report has not yet been released.
According to an arrest affidavit, first responders on Feb. 5 went to a home in the Chattanooga suburb of Ooltewah for a call of CPR in progress, where they found the woman already dead.
Lee told deputies the woman might have fallen in the shower, but, according to an arrest affidavit, there were extensive amounts of blood in different areas of the house that were inconsistent with Lee’s statement.
Darron Lee of the New York Jets runs the ball in the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field Sept. 10, 2018, in Detroit. (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Authorities carrying out a search warrant found multiple types of trauma to the woman’s body, including a stab wound to her abdomen, an apparent human bite mark on her shoulder, a large bruise on her head, black eyes with heavy swelling and dried blood on her face and neck, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also found alcohol, narcotics and a gun, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said Lee had a facial injury, lacerations on his hands, wounds on his chest and blood inside the case of his cellphone.
Detectives also identified blood that someone attempted to clean up in multiple areas of the house, in addition to cleaning supplies near where testing confirmed there had been blood stains but no blood was visible, the affidavit said.
Wamp said Lee was on probation in Florida for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in one county and battery in another and on probation in Ohio for attempted battery.
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Mike Little, a deputy public defender representing Lee, told The Associated Press it was premature for him to make any statements.
The Jets selected Lee in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He later played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, last appearing in an NFL game in 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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James Milner equaled Gareth Barry’s all-time Premier League appearance record after he was was introduced off the substitutes’ bench in the first half of Brighton‘s match with Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Milner replaced Carlos Baleba after just 22 minutes to make his 653rd appearance in the top flight.
With 12 matches remaining in the season and the the versatile 40-year-old showing no signs of considering retirement, it is all but certain that the former England international will break the record of his former Aston Villa and Manchester City teammate in the coming weeks.
The Brighton veteran made his Premier League debut aged 16 for Leeds United in 2002 and has equaled the appearance record having played for six clubs: Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton.
Ryan Giggs (632 appearances) sits behind Milner and Barry in the all-time list. Frank Lampard (609) and David James (572) complete the top five.
Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer (544), Gary Speed (535), Emile Heskey (516), Jamie Carragher (508) and Phil Neville (505) round out the top 10.
– When will James Milner break the Premier League appearance record?
– Premier League table
The U.S. speed skating star set an Olympic record but had to wait for a competitor to take a second skate before he could claim his victory.
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