Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard entered basketball immortality Saturday night, leading a 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class that also honored several standout figures from the NBA, WNBA and beyond.
Anthony, a 10-time NBA All-Star who finished his career 12th on the league’s scoring list with 28,289 points, received a loud “Melo! Melo!” chant as he approached the podium. Fighting back tears, the 19-year veteran reflected on the doubters he encountered along the way. “Tonight I just don’t step into the Hall of Fame, I carry the echoes of every voice that ever told me I couldn’t,” he told the audience. “I never got an NBA ring, but I know what I gave to the game.” Anthony played for six franchises across nearly two decades.
Howard, an eight-time All-Star and one of the NBA’s most dominant centers for much of his 18-season run, followed with a tribute to legendary big men such as Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dikembe Mutombo, while playfully nodding to his long-running “Superman” rivalry with Shaquille O’Neal. He ended his remarks with a message to his children: “You only die once, but you live every day.” Howard suited up for seven teams during his career.
Both players were enshrined twice on the night—they were inducted individually and as members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic “Redeem Team,” which recaptured gold after a bronze finish in 2004. Every living member of that squad attended, with Kobe Bryant, who died in 2020, the lone absence. By joining the Redeem Team contingent, Anthony and Howard joined Bryant, Jason Kidd, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as double inductees.
The ceremony also recognized former WNBA greats Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles; Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan; Miami Heat managing general partner Micky Arison; and longtime NBA referee Danny Crawford. Arison provided one of the evening’s lighter moments by recalling LeBron James’ famed Miami introduction in 2010: “In 2010, with Dwyane, LeBron and Chris Bosh, we knew we could win. Not one, not two … I guess it was just two.”
The Hall welcomed the diverse class during an eventful night that blended celebration, reflection and a shared appreciation for the game’s history.
Source: Hoops Rumors
