Amar’e Stoudemire is heading to Springfield.
The six-time NBA All-Star, who spent five of his 14 seasons with the New York Knicks, will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday afternoon.
Longtime coach Doc Rivers, along with WNBA stars Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne, are among other names headlining this year’s class.
The star big man, 43, was drafted out of high school in 2002 with the ninth overall pick by the Phoenix Suns and went on to win that year’s Rookie of the Year award. He formed an elite pick-and-roll tandem alongside star point guard Steve Nash.
An explosive athlete known for his relentless assault on rims worldwide, Stoudemire collected five All-NBA nods and four top-10 MVP finishes during his playing career.
He also captured a bronze medal for Team USA in the 2004 Athens Olympics. While the star-studded squad drastically underperformed, Stoudemire flashed signs of good things to come by sharing the court with eventual teammate Carmelo Anthony, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2025.
Stoudemire joined the Knicks via sign-and-trade before the 2010–11 campaign and averaged 25.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game in his first season — and lone All-Star nod — with New York.
The Knicks made the playoffs in each of Stoudemire’s first three seasons with the team, culminating in a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2013, which would be New York’s last playoff appearance until first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau staged a postseason return in 2021.
Stoudemire was ultimately moved to the Dallas Mavericks midway through the 2014–15 season before spending one last NBA season with the Miami Heat, retiring with career averages of 18.9 points, 7.8 boards, and 1.2 blocks across 846 games played.
