Elena Delle Donne’s speech at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this past Saturday marked the second time this year that she had given a speech at such an occasion. Delle Donne was also part of the 2026 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class earlier this year in Knoxville.
Following a nice nod to comedian Larry David who was in attendance for the big occasion, Delle Donne mentioned Marianne Stanley and Sylvia Fowles who were her presenters.
Stanley was a 2022 inductee into the Hall. Fowles was enshrined last year.
Whether you’re scouting an opponent in a championship series or leading a light workout, your preparation and attention to detail never changed. You showed up every single day with the same purpose and intensity and that consistency is something I’ve tried to carry into my own life.
–Elena Delle Donne to Marianne Stanley
Having you as my vet helped this once very nervous rookie find her footing right away. While plenty of veterans around the league were making rookies clean their cars or chasing balls they had kicked across the arena, you treated me like an equal from day one. That set the tone for the entire team and I’ll never forget it.
–Elena Delle Donne to Sylvia Fowles
Delle Donne and Fowles were teammates at the Chicago Sky. She praised Fowles for her warmth and kindness – then also mentioned how often both of their names were mispronounced by many an aficionado.
One word that stuck out during Delle Donne’s speech was the word “goodbye.” She says that it was not a goodbye to game considering her current roles with the Washington Mystics and USA Baskeball’s 3×3 team. She says it was a goodbye to the player she was for the entirety of her career.
…Where every season began with hope, every summer had a purpose and every morning I woke up asking one question – how can I get better today?
–Elena Delle Donne, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026
Delle Donne later branded her speech as a “love letter” to the game – and described it as “the longest relationship” she has had throughout her years.
You never cared if I was awkward. You turned my greatest childhood insecurity – my height – into a superpower.
–Elena Delle Donne, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026
In that love letter, she thanked the game for giving her teammates and opponents that made her better, coaches that believed in her before she believed in herself – and for introducing her to her current wife, Amanda. Delle Donne described the latter as the game’s “best assist.”
Delle Donne credited basketball for teaching her everything that she needed to know about what greatness means on and off the court. In addition, she mentioned how the lessons she learned when she questioned herself were waiting for her at home.
That strength was particularly found in the form of her big sister, Lizzie, who was born blind and deaf.
She’s never played in front of thousands of people. She’s never had a standing ovation. She’s never been interviewed after a big win. And yet, I have never met anyone stronger.
–Elena Delle Donne on Lizzie
For a long time, I thought greatness looked like moments like this – Hall of Fame ceremonies, awards, championships. Then I realized the bravest person I know has never experienced any of those things. Lizzie changed the way I define greatness. She taught me that greatness isn’t measured by applause. It’s measured by courage, by joy, by showing up for another difficult day without asking ‘why me?’
–Elena Delle Donne on Lizzie
Those lessons that were waiting for her at home were a reminder over the years to Delle Donne of what really matters – family – such as the family that was there for her speech.
Retirement has a funny way of changing your perspective. When you’re playing, you think your greatest accomplishment will be a championship or an MVP or a Hall of Fame. But when the game slows down, you realize your greatest accomplishment – it was who you became on the journey.
–Elena Delle Donne, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026
Delle Donne closed her remarks by mentioning that while basketball gave her so much throughout life, the biggest thing it may have given her was the realization that on-court achievements are great, off-court achievements are even greater.
