Seven basketball legends and an illustrious coach were officially inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prestigious Enshrinement Ceremony was held at the Kraftwerk Berlin, alongside the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 Draw, celebrating the enduring legacy of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year’s Class included Sue Bird (USA), C\u00e9line Dumerc (France), Clarisse Machanguana (Mozambique), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Ludwik Mi\u0119tta\u2011Miko\u0142ajewicz (Poland), Ismenia Pauchard (Chile), Hidayet T\u00fcrko\u011flu (T\u00fcrkiye), and Wang Zhizhi (China).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird expressed on the global dimension of the FIBA Hall of Fame: “I’ve been lucky to have a lot of meaningful moments in my career, but this one feels different because it isn’t about one team, or one league, or one city. It’s about the game on a global level.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird was the heartbeat of an all-conquering USA side for almost two decades. This is no better underlined than by her headline and epic haul of five consecutive Olympic gold medals – plus no fewer than four FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The guard was also a serial winner at club level, lifting EuroLeague Women silverware five times – including a stunning four straight titles with storied Russian juggernauts, Sparta&K M.R Vidnoje.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her sparkling resume was also decorated with four WNBA Championship titles – all attained with Seattle Storm where she spent her entire WNBA career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his induction speech, Nowitzki reflected on the deeper impact of sport, saying: “Sport has a unique way of shaping qualities like integrity and character. When I look back at my own journey today, I realize I owe sport so much more than this honor tonight. I wasn’t discovered through sport, through sport I discovered life and the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dirk Nowitzki represented Germany for two decades and was MVP of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2002 and at FIBA EuroBasket 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Seven basketball legends and an illustrious coach were officially inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame as members<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[103,52],"class_list":["post-11953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-awards","tag-basketball"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t