2025 Hall of Fame class features Anthony, Howard, Bird, Fowles and Moore
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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will induct its 2025 class this weekend, formally adding five standout players who shaped the NBA, WNBA and international play.
NBA inductees
Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard are the only former NBA players in this year’s group, the smallest NBA contingent since 2017. The pair combined for 18 All-Star selections and 14 All-NBA honors during careers that spanned the 2000s and 2010s.
Howard, 39, secured three Defensive Player of the Year awards (2008–12) and reached the All-NBA first team five consecutive seasons while anchoring the Orlando Magic. Analytical models credited his Orlando tenure with 0.8 “championships added,” enough to place him in the league’s top 40 historically. He later captured a championship as a reserve with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
Anthony, 41, logged 10 All-Star appearances and six All-NBA nods across 19 seasons. He guided the New York Knicks to a 54-win campaign in 2012-13—still their only 50-win season between 2000 and 2024—and finished third in MVP voting that year. Before turning professional, he led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA men’s title as a freshman.
Historic WNBA trio
The WNBA will send its largest single-year group ever to Springfield: Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore. All three were named to “The W25” during the league’s 25th-anniversary celebration and ranked inside ESPN’s top 10 players in WNBA history at that time.
Bird, 44, played 19 WNBA seasons with the Seattle Storm, winning four championships (2004, 2010, 2018, 2020) and finishing first all-time in assists, games and minutes. Her 13 All-Star selections are also a league record.
Fowles, 39, retired in 2022 as the WNBA’s career rebounding leader—a mark later eclipsed by Tina Charles—and earned four Defensive Player of the Year awards (2011, 2013, 2016, 2021). She won two titles with the Minnesota Lynx and collected eight All-WNBA honors.
Moore, 36, stepped away from basketball after the 2018 season to focus on social justice work but amassed four championships and one MVP award (2014) in only eight seasons with Minnesota. She registered seven All-WNBA appearances and ranks second in playoff wins above replacement according to advanced metrics.
Shared Olympic success
All five inductees own at least one Olympic gold medal. Bird leads the group with five (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021), followed by Fowles with four. Anthony earned three, while Howard, Bird and Fowles contributed to the United States’ 2008 “Redeem Team” efforts in Beijing; Moore added golds in 2012 and 2016.
Anthony and Howard will be enshrined twice this weekend, joining their 2008 men’s national team teammates alongside their individual inductions.
With three WNBA icons and two long-time NBA headliners, the 2025 class balances quality and breadth, representing achievements across professional leagues, college basketball and international competition.
Source: ESPN
