The finalists for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 were announced Friday, at the start of NBA All-Star weekend in San Francisco. Among the finalists announced was former Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony. Anthony was joined by Billy Donovan, Sylvia Fowler, Jerry Welsh, Tal Brody, Maya Moore, Dwight Howard, Sue Bird and Micky Arison as finalists for this year’s Hall of Fame class. Anthony, of course, played 19 seasons in the NBA from 2003 to 2022. He was selected third overall in the 2003 draft by the Nuggets.
He then spent the first eight seasons of his career in Denver, making three All-Star teams and being named an All-NBA player four times. The Nuggets then traded him to the Knicks in 2011, where he would quickly become the face of New York basketball. During his seven seasons in New York, Anthony was a six-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection. In 2017, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he played for one season and then spent the last four seasons of his career playing for the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony finished his career as a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection, but never won a championship. For his career, he averaged 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game, shooting 44.7% from the field and 35.5% from three-point range. His best seasons were with the Nuggets and Knicks, where he became one of the best players in the NBA. He was a lethal scorer and delivered on promises of being the third overall pick. Anthony was recently hired by NBC as a studio analyst for NBA coverage next season and is expected to face a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction later this year.