Phoenix Suns greats Amar’e Stoudemire and Kevin Johnson and former coach Mike D’Antoni were named Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame finalists on Wednesday.
Stoudemire and Johnson were part of 11 North American finalists. The other North American finalists include Joey Crawford, Mark Few, Blake Griffin, Gary McKnight, Dick Motta, Doc Rivers, Kelvin Sampson, Jerry Welsh and Buck Williams.
D’Antoni was nominated as a Contributor finalist along with Tal Brody.
All finalists will go through a final vote by the Honors Committee, where they will need at least 18 of 24 votes, before the Class of 2026 will be announced on April 4 at the men’s Final Four.
Stoudemire was drafted ninth overall by the Suns in 2002 out of high school and won Rookie of the Year in 2003. He was an All-NBA First Team selection in 2007, an All-NBA Second-Team selection in 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2011, led Phoenix to the playoffs five times and was an All-Star five times (2005, 2007-2010).
On the Suns’ franchise leaderboards, he’s seventh in points, third in rebounds and fifth in blocks. He averaged 21.4 points and 8.3 rebounds during his first eight seasons with the Suns (2002-10).
During the 2010 offseason, Stoudemire opted out of his contract with the Suns after a contract dispute with then-owner Robert Sarver. Because of injury concerns, the Suns didn’t want to offer Stoudemire a contract worth more than four years, which made him feel “unappreciated.”
A month later, after eight seasons in Phoenix, he signed with the New York Knicks and agreed to a five-year contract worth $99.7 million. Stoudemire retired six years later.
He was inducted into the Suns’ Ring Of Honor in 2024.
Johnson was also named a finalist in 2014-2016. He spent almost the entirety of his 12-year NBA career with the Suns, playing 11 seasons in Phoenix before a short-lived comeback to replace an injured Jason Kidd in the playoffs. Johnson led the Suns to a playoff berth in every full season he played with the team.
Johnson is sixth all-time in games played, fourth in points and second in assists on the Suns’ franchise leaderboards. He was named an NBA All-Star on three separate occasions (1990, 1991, 1994) and named to the All-NBA Second-Team four times (1989, 1990, 1991, 1994). He was also named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 1989 and was inducted into the Suns’ Ring Of Honor in 2001.
He became the first player in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 10 assists, a .500 field goal percentage and two steals per game for an entire season when he did so in 1990-91. He later went on to serve as mayor of his hometown of Sacramento, California, from 2008 until 2016.
Known for his “7 Seconds or Less” offense, D’Antoni played a pivotal role in setting the standard of up-tempo basketball.
He was named NBA Coach of the Year twice (2005, 2017) and posted a 672-527 record in 1,199 career games. D’Antoni spent five seasons in Phoenix (2003-2008) and led the Suns to the playoffs in four of his five seasons at the helm, including back-to-back trips to the conference finals in 2005 and 2006.