Dancing with the Stars 26 cast: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Josh Norman, more

Today, ABC officially revealed the cast for Dancing with the Stars 26, and the series absolutely did its best to take as many different athletes as possible from as wide a range of different sports as they could. There are some here we’ve heard of, whereas there are others who we are really just getting to know right now for the first time. In that way, this really is just like any other season of the series.

Below, you can see the full cast for the shortened season (premiering on April 30 and running for just a few weeks) coupled with some of our preliminary thoughts on many of them.

Adam Rippon with Jenna Johnson – Adam is an Olympic skater, known for being one of the most notable stars of the Winter Olympics this year.

Arike Ogunbowale with Gleb Savchenko – Arike was the hero of the NCAA Women’s College Basketball Tournament for the University of Notre Dame, as her shots included a last-second upset of UConn alongside a big win in the National Championship Game.

Chris Mazdzer with Witney Carson – Another Olympian, Chris is known for being the first non-European to medal at the Olympics as a luger in his particular event.

Jamie Anderson with Artem Chigvintsev – Anderson is a known snowboarder, and has some experience on reality TV already via The Celebrity Apprentice.

Jennie Finch Daigle with Keo Motsepe – Finch, one of the most famous softball players of all time, also has been on The Celebrity Apprentice. It’d be ironic if the one season Keo goes super-far in is the one that only lasts a few weeks.

Johnny Damon with Emma Slater – Damon, another alum of The Celebrity Apprentice, is a former baseball great who played for the Red Sox and Yankees.

Josh Norman with Sharna Burgess – Norman is a prominent NFL cornerback who is using this show to keep in shape and have some fun.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Lindsay Arnold – The most famous contestant this season, and arguably one of the best NBA players of all time.

Mirai Nagasu with Alan Bersten – Nagasu was a prominent figure skater this year, but was also notable for making comments about wanting to be on Dancing with the Stars all the way back then.

Tonya Harding with Sasha Farber – Next to Kareem the most famous contestant this season … and also the most infamous for headlines away from the rink.

What do you think about the cast for Dancing with the Stars 26? Be sure to share right now in the comments!

Meanwhile, be sure to also like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some other insight when it comes to the series. (Photo: ABC.)