Diana Taurasi headlines Hall of Fame class of 2027

Diana Taurasi headlines the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2027. The Hall announced the six-person group Thursday, and the WNBA's all-time leading scorer tops it. Two championship coaches and a longtime official join her. So do a scoring pioneer and a pioneering administrator. Read more: Diana Taurasi headlines Hall of Fame class of 2027

Taurasi retired with 10,646 points, still the WNBA record, after 20 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. She won three WNBA titles and six Olympic gold medals with Team USA. She also won the 2009 MVP award. Before that, she won three national championships at UConn and went first overall to Phoenix in the 2004 draft.

Related: Liberty fire coach Chris DeMarco after one season

Two championship coaches join her

Sandy Brondello won WNBA titles as a head coach with Phoenix in 2014 and the New York Liberty in 2024. She became the first head coach of the expansion Toronto Tempo in 2025. She has also coached Australia's national team since 2017, winning Olympic bronze in Paris in 2024.

Mike Thibault spent 20 years as a WNBA head coach with the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics. He went 379-289 across those 20 years. Washington won its first championship under him in 2019, and he won Coach of the Year three times. He also won two NBA titles as a Lakers assistant in the 1980s.

Dee Kantner spent more than 40 years officiating women's basketball. She worked 26 NCAA Final Fours and 16 national championship games. She became one of the first two women to referee in the NBA and also worked the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Molly Bolin Kazmer signed with the Women's Professional Basketball League as its first player in 1978. She set a league record with 55 points in a single game in 1980. She also shared that season's MVP award after averaging 32.8 points per game.

Dr. Judith Holland built UCLA's women's athletics department from scratch in the 1970s. She served as the school's first full-time director of women's sports. She then led the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) as president and chaired the NCAA's women's basketball committee.

Related: Valkyries and Dream set for winner-take-all Game 7

Michelle Marciniak announced the class in a release. The organization is "thrilled to welcome these six inductees into the distinguished seats of the Hall of Fame," said Marciniak, the Hall of Fame's CEO.

The Hall of Fame class of 2027 takes the stage June 26 at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tickets are not yet on sale, and the Hall is still building its waiting list for the ceremony.