Why Bird, Fowles and Moore are Naismith Hall of Famers -- and the greatest class of women yet

On Saturday, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame selected 3 of the top players successful women's hoops past arsenic portion of a star-studded 2025 class.

Having some retired aft the 2022 season, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles assumed they were headed into the Hall unneurotic arsenic soon arsenic they were eligible. (In December, the Hall announced a simplification successful the waiting period from 3 afloat seasons aft status to two.)

They were joined by Moore, who past played successful the WNBA successful 2018 earlier stepping distant from the league to enactment connected societal justness issues and assistance overturn the wrongful condemnation of her aboriginal husband, Jonathan Irons. After initially keeping the doorway unfastened to a return, Moore officially announced her retirement successful January 2023.

The timing means that 3 of the apical 10 players successful ESPN's ranking of the WNBA's greatest contributors during its 25th day successful 2021 volition participate the Hall of Fame unneurotic (the people volition beryllium officially enshrined connected Sept. 6). Let's instrumentality a look astatine what made Bird and Fowles -- who had their numbers retired by the Seattle Storm and Minnesota Lynx, respectively, connected the aforesaid time successful June 2023 -- and Moore first-ballot selections arsenic good arsenic wherefore there's nary precedent for a Hall of Fame people similar this.

Sue Bird

UConn (1998-2002); Seattle Storm (2002-22)

The top sustained victor successful the WNBA, Bird retired having played successful much wins (332) than immoderate different subordinate successful the league. Bird's longevity was a cardinal factor. She played a grounds 580 games crossed 2 decades successful the league, overcoming genu injuries to prima connected 4 Seattle title teams from 2004 to 2020, the longest spread betwixt titles for immoderate WNBA player.

Bird's bequest besides includes being the top constituent defender successful WNBA history. She surpassed Ticha Penicheiro arsenic the league's all-time person successful assists successful 2017 and remains astir 400 assists up of Courtney Vandersloot for No. 1 each time. Bird's quality to power a crippled arsenic a scorer oregon distributor was revolutionary erstwhile she entered the league arsenic the apical prime of the 2002 draft, earning All-WNBA first-team honors (the archetypal of 8 All-WNBA picks) and starring the Storm to the playoffs arsenic a rookie.

Before joining the WNBA, Bird started for UConn's nationalist title teams successful 2000 and 2002, the second perhaps the astir ascendant squad successful women's hoops history with a 39-0 grounds and an mean borderline of 26.8 points per crippled successful the NCAA tournament. Bird was the statement nationalist subordinate of the twelvemonth successful 2001-02.

After teaming with Diana Taurasi successful the Huskies' backcourt, Bird became a fixture alongside her for USA Basketball, winning 5 golden medals from 2004 to 2021. Only Taurasi, who added a sixth past year, surpasses Bird successful Olympic history.

Sylvia Fowles

LSU (2004-08); Chicago Sky (2008-14); Minnesota Lynx (2015-22)

A four-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, the 6-foot-6 Fowles has a beardown lawsuit arsenic the top overgarment defender successful league history. Only Tamika Catchings, with five, won much DPOY awards. Fowles is 4th each clip successful WNBA blocks and retired arsenic the league's all-time starring rebounder earlier being surpassed by Tina Charles past season.

A ascendant unit from the clip she arrived successful Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Fowles led the Tigers to the Final Four each 4 seasons of her assemblage vocation and earned All-WNBA honors 4 times successful 7 seasons with the Sky. It was lone aft Fowles requested a commercialized and landed successful Minnesota that her endowment was afloat appreciated.

Joining a Lynx squad that had already won titles successful 2011 and 2013 -- much connected that successful a infinitesimal -- Fowles propelled Minnesota to 2 much championships implicit the adjacent 3 seasons and emerged arsenic the team's champion player, winning Finals MVP aft some titles. In 2017, Fowles was besides voted league MVP.

As the remainder of the Lynx squad dilatory dissolved, Fowles was a fixture. She won her last Defensive Player of the Year grant successful 2021 astatine property 35, finishing 4th successful MVP voting that season. And Fowles was an All-WNBA second-team prime (and All-Defensive first-team selection) successful her last season, 2022.

On the planetary stage, Fowles teamed with Bird for 4 Olympic golden medals from 2008 to 2021.

Maya Moore

UConn (2007-11); Minnesota Lynx (2011-18)

Moore's all-too-brief WNBA vocation matched up with the top sustained play of squad occurrence successful league history. Over the 8 seasons Moore played successful Minnesota, the Lynx went to the Finals six times and won 4 titles, opening successful her rookie campaign. The New York Liberty is the lone different franchise that has reached the Finals six times, and it took 2 decades aft their erstwhile 4 appearances for the Liberty to get back.

Moore wasn't the lone crushed for the Lynx's success. Fowles deserves immense recognition for the backmost fractional of the run, portion the full epoch besides included Hall of Famers Lindsay Whalen (elected successful 2022) and Seimone Augustus (2024), positive five-time All-Star and five-time champion Rebekkah Brunson.

Still, Moore's implicit crippled helped her squad triumph wherever she went. After earning the Gatorade National Player of the Year, UConn won back-to-back championships successful 2009 and 2010, with Moore arsenic Most Outstanding Player of the 2010 NCAA tournament. The lone three-time victor of the Wade trophy arsenic nationalist subordinate of the year, Moore was an evident No. 1 prime by Minnesota.

No facet of Moore's crippled was arsenic exemplary arsenic Bird's passing oregon Fowles' defense, but she could bash everything connected the court. Moore led the WNBA successful scoring successful 2014 en way to her lone MVP, yet she was arsenic apt to assistance her squad arsenic a defender oregon distributor. An All-WNBA first-team prime each play from 2013 to 2017, Moore peculiarly shines successful precocious stats.

Despite her abbreviated career, which featured less than fractional arsenic galore regular-season games arsenic Bird, Moore was 2nd successful playoff wins supra replacement subordinate (WARP) by my metric erstwhile she retired. Because of its accent connected highest contributions and postseason performance, Moore ranked 4th successful my championships added estimate done the league's archetypal 25 seasons -- the aforesaid spot she ranked successful our voting.

Again, Moore's USA Basketball vocation was brief, but she won golden medals with Bird and Fowles successful 2012 and 2016.

An unprecedented people of women players

Remarkably, this twelvemonth volition people the archetypal clip 3 women person been inducted into the Hall of Fame arsenic players successful the aforesaid class.

Since archetypal recognizing pistillate players with Lusia Harris and Nera White successful 1992, the Hall has had 8 different multiplayer classes, including 3 of the past 4 years. To date, the champion pairings of WNBA players were erstwhile MVPs Yolanda Griffith and Lauren Jackson successful 2021 and the high-scoring duo of Katie Smith and Tina Thompson successful 2018.

Jackson and Griffith, some successful the apical 13 successful ESPN's ranking of the WNBA apical 25, travel closest to matching the top-end endowment of this year's group. But each 3 members of this year's people ranked up of Griffith, Smith and Thompson.

Arguably the strongest classes earlier this twelvemonth predated the WNBA. In 1993, the Hall recognized UCLA fable Ann Meyers, the archetypal pistillate to motion with an NBA team, arsenic good arsenic Soviet prima Uljana Semjonova. Two years later, USC superstar Cheryl Miller was joined successful the 1995 people by Old Dominion standout Anne Donovan.

As the WNBA grows, we tin expect larger Hall classes that could reflector the men, who typically fig 3 to 4 and person featured arsenic galore arsenic six players successful a year. Still, it could beryllium a portion until the timing lines up for a radical arsenic decorated arsenic this year's class.