The class of 2025 will be enshrined at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 6.
Former Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony highlights the class on the men’s side, with Dwight Howard, coach Billy Donovan, official Danny Crawford and the 2008 USA Men’s National Team also being enshrined.
On the women’s side, the names are far more notable, with legends Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore getting honored, and creating perhaps the greatest Hall of Fame class in the history of women’s basketball.
Anthony was a member of the storied NBA Draft class of 2003, when three Hall of Famers — Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — were selected in the top 5 picks. The No. 1 overall selection that year, LeBron James, is certain to get inducted in his own right when he becomes eligible.
Known for a silky jumper and smooth offensive scoring prowess from all over the floor, Anthony reflected on his path from Baltimore, all the way to the Hall.
“Oh man, my legacy was done with such grace,” Anthony told reporters Friday. “A lot of humbleness, a lot of competitiveness. And I did it my way. I did it a way that a lot of people didn’t agree with. I did it a way that I went against the grain a lot of times, not disrespectfully, but just I have my own vision. I have my own way of doing things.”
Anthony, 41, played 19 seasons in the NBA and was a 10-time All-Star, a six-time All-NBA selection, the 2012-13 scoring champion (28.7 points per game) and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Anthony ranks 10th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, with 28,289 points. He’s also a four-time Olympic medalist, and three-time gold medalist.
But one of the things that separated Anthony from his peers was that he opted to forge his own path on his teams against the backdrop of an era where superstars routinely joined forces to create super teams.
“I have my own ways of approaching the game,” Anthony continued. “I have my own ways of preparing for the game and dealing with the game, and my own ways of dealing with being a professional athlete. I keep going back to being 19, being thrown the keys (to the Nuggets). That’s a lot of responsibility that you don’t know until you start to reflect back on.”
In an episode of “Podcast P with Paul George” that premiered Tuesday, July 22, Anthony opened up about the 2010 offseason, when James and Bosh joined Wade on the Miami Heat. Anthony said the plan was for Bosh and Wade to team up and James and Anthony to team up elsewhere, but Anthony said those plans broke down when they couldn’t find a destination.
“Imagine me at 23 years old, 24 years old, being the fourth option on the team when I’m leading my team every single year, like, I’m finding my way in this league,” Anthony said during the episode. “And you want me to leave that and go be a fourth option? I don’t know, mentally, how, I was going to do that. …
“So I was like, ‘Hell, no. I can’t be that fourth (option).’ That was always a what-if.”
Switching to the trio of women’s legends, Bird, Fowles and Moore have 10 combined WNBA championship titles and 11 Olympic gold medals, which is most for any class entering the Hall of Fame.
“I think it would be fair to say that they have the title of best class ever,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said, according to the Associated Press. “They are each Hall of Famers and are terrific in their own right to the extent they impacted their sport.”
The Hall of Fame Class enshrinement ceremony will take place Saturday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. ET at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts.