It can’t be very often that a hall of fame catches a new inductee-to-be by surprise; after all, typically, the athletes on the receiving end of those calls are quite aware of how great they were.

But when former Sparks great Delisha Milton-Jones received word in February that she would be enshrined into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame – she’ll be wearing a navy-blue gown at Saturday’s induction ceremony in Knoxville, Tennessee – she was stunned.

Not because she wasn’t great, but because she grew accustomed, during her 17-year WNBA career, to being left out of awards consideration.

Not this time.

The former forward will be inducted as part of a class of eight people, including Becky Hammon, a former WNBA star and the current Las Vegas Aces coach – whose team will face the Sparks in interim head coach Fred Williams’ debut with the team on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

A WNBA coach for almost the entirety of the league’s 26-year existence, Williams can tell you that Milton-Jones, who now is the head women’s basketball coach at Old Dominion University, had opponents’ respect, regardless of whether she garnered accolades.

“You didn’t want to see her inside that paint,” Williams said. “She was like Miss Double-Double next to Tina Thompson. And you know, DeLisha is just an awesome person, human being … a very professional player. Very professional.”

That professionalism might have helped teams win (she contributed to two of the Sparks’ WNBA championships), but she thinks it might also have helped relegate her to the background.

“I felt like I did it the right way, and sometimes when you do it the right way, you’re not always acknowledged in the facet that you would love to be acknowledged in,” Milton-Jones said this week, via Zoom, from Colorado Springs, where she’s been working as an assistant coach for the USA Basketball women’s under-18 national team.

“I played on some tremendous teams where our starting five could’ve been the starting five for the All-Star team. We all could’ve gotten votes and bids every single year, but two, maybe three of us would lose out year after year.”

ICYMI, @DelishaMJones is headed to the @WBHOF

| https://t.co/TyyGGLtHQr#ODUSports | #ReignOn | #Monarchs pic.twitter.com/gFfjeomqpE

— ODU Women’s Basketball (@ODU_WBB) February 15, 2022

Milton-Jones was plenty decorated: She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist, earning a spot on those 12-women teams representing the best players in the United States.

She’s also 17th all-time in the WNBA in points (5,571), 11th in rebounding (2,574) and second in games played (499). Twice she finished among the top 10 in the league in steals, blocked shots, or 3-point shooting percentage – and three times she was top 10 in defensive rebounds, field goal percentage, defensive win shares and minutes.

Drafted out of Florida with the No. 4 overall pick by the Sparks in 1999, Milton-Jones’ famously cheery and charming disposition off the floor inspired the nickname “Sunshine.” But they also called her “D-Nasty” for her on-court intensity: She’s still the WNBA’s all-time leader in personal fouls, although Phoenix star Diana Taurasi is closing in, fewer than 60 behind Milton-Jones’ career total of 1,574.

And Milton-Jones – who played two seasons in the short-lived American Basketball League and also abroad in Russia, Spain and the Czech Republic – always took her job as a role model and one of the WNBA’s pioneers seriously.

“I felt like being in the WNBA we all had a charge to keep – to help this league have longevity,” she said. “It wasn’t just for what it could do for us in the now, it was how long can it be here in the future? How can it impact lives and change the mindsets of people in terms of how they thought about women in sports, and the respect that we deserve or the lack of respect we were given? How could we change all of that?

“I took an amount of pride and servitude attached to every time that I trained, every time that I touched the floor to play and to practice. I wanted to make sure I was putting the best product out there because when someone saw me, they saw the WNBA.”

But Milton-Jones was named a WNBA All-Star just twice, and she was never an All-WNBA selection. The Sparks have retired only two jerseys: Lisa Leslie’s No. 9 jersey and Penny Toler’s No. 11.

That’s why the recognition from the Hall of Fame felt so unexpected, and so very meaningful, Milton-Jones said this week, her emotion evident as she spoke.

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“I lost out on a lot of opportunities personally that would have me in a different conversation,” she said. “And so being overlooked all of those years, it was hurtful. And when I walked away from the game, I felt like I didn’t get the departure that I dreamt of.”

She thinks it might have helped if she had been able to play her entire career in L.A., where she had two stints covering 11 seasons: “That probably left a smudge on my career in terms of me being considered one of the greatest.”

But perhaps her legacy is healthier than she assumed?

“When the call came from the Hall, my goodness, I felt like it was the salve, the ointment that I needed to rub on the broken areas of my heart and my spirit when I think about the game, and the beautiful moments that it gave me and the hurtful moments that it gave me,” she said.

“And for everyone that did deny me or overlook me, or not appreciate my artistry that I put on display, this is that ‘Aha-told-you-so’ type moment. And it just does me all the good.”

I remember looking at ⁦@DelishaMJones⁩ with pure shock when she said to ⁦@LaChinaRobinson⁩ & I that she doesn’t hear her name in HOF conversations. Such a crucial part to the Sparks’ championship run. So to read she’s a HOF FINALIST is https://t.co/PCdrQSScBS

— Terrika (@SheKnowsSports) January 21, 2022

Truly honored!!! #OrangeJacketMe https://t.co/W3zWVT0aPN

— Delisha Milton-Jones (@DelishaMJones) February 15, 2022

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. https://t.co/BzFYAczYH1

— Delisha Milton-Jones (@DelishaMJones) February 15, 2022

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for these young women.”@ODU_WBB head coach @DelishaMJones gets emotional when talking about her team’s reaction to her Hall of Fame honor. Milton-Jones is one of eight who will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June.@WTKR3 pic.twitter.com/yhQjp49tTx

— Marc Davis (@marcdavissports) February 15, 2022

The Sparks’ DeLisha Milton-Jones controls the ball as the Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi defends during Game 2 of the WNBA’s 2009 Western Conference finals in Phoenix. Milton-Jones, who will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend, earned the nickname “Sunshine” for her famously cheery and charming disposition off the court. But they also called her “D-Nasty” for her on-court intensity. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)