The 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class includes eight individual inductees, five of whom have NBA ties: Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Danny Crawford, Mickey Arison, and Billy Donovan (an NBA head coach for 10 seasons who is being inducted based on his accomplishments as a college coach, capped off by leading Florida to NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007). The other three individual inductees are women's players Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, and Maya Moore. The 2008 Team USA squad that won the Olympic gold medal is also being inducted. Four members of that team--Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and Dwyane Wade--have already been inducted individually.
This website focuses primarily on the NBA, so this article will focus on the Hall of Fame inductees who have NBA connections.
Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James were both rookies in the 2003-04 NBA season, so it is a tribute to James' remarkable longevity that he is still playing at an All-NBA Team level in the year when Anthony is being inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007, but Anthony never played in the NBA Finals and he reached the Conference Finals just once in his 19 season NBA career while posting a 3-13 career playoff series record; any player who wins an NBA title posts more playoff series victories in one year (four) than Anthony had in nearly two decades.
Anthony led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA title as a freshman, and he then had a very productive professional career during which he earned six All-NBA Team selections and 10 All-Star selections while winning the 2013 scoring title. His 28,289 career regular season points rank 12th in ABA/NBA history. Anthony played in the Olympics for Team USA a record four times, winning a bronze medal in 2004 followed by gold medals in 2008, 2012, and 2016. In Team USA's FIBA World Cup Struggles and the Myth of "Olympic Melo," I noted that Anthony's impact on those gold medal-winning teams has been exaggerated:
"Olympic Melo" is a mythical creature. I am not sure when, why or how the myth began, but the myth is not supported by statistics, the eye test or any other meaningful player evaluation system. Consider Anthony's performance in the 2008 Olympics: he had the second lowest field goal percentage on the team (.422, including .382 in medal round play) and he was benched for the final eight minutes of the gold medal game. During medal round play, Team USA outscored the opposition by 25 points when Anthony was in the game; Team USA outscored the opposition by 52 points when Kobe Bryant was in the game, and they outscored the opposition by 50 points when LeBron James was in the game.In Revising the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, Part VI, I summarized Anthony's place in pro basketball history: "Even in his prime he was not a great all-around player. He was a championship player in college who regressed in terms of having a championship mentality in the NBA, which is unusual. Most NCAA champions who have the necessary physical talent to excel in the NBA--which Anthony obviously does--hone the championship habits that they formed in college, but Anthony did not. He was never the best player at his position, he played for talented teams that did not seriously contend for the championship, and he resisted when his coaches tried to guide him toward having more of an impact on winning." For those reasons, I do not consider Anthony to be one of pro basketball's 50 or 75 greatest players--even though he was selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team in 2021--but it is clear that he without question earned first ballot Hall of Fame selection after a career filled with high level accomplishments at the collegiate, professional, and international levels.
Anthony performed somewhat better in the 2012 Olympics, though his overall numbers were skewed by his stat-padding 37 point explosion versus Nigeria during pool play. Anthony scored eight points on 3-9 field goal shooting during the gold medal game, and throughout the tournament he was often on the bench when the score was close.
In the 2016 Olympics, Anthony scored seven points on 3-7 field goal shooting in the gold medal game. He also had seven rebounds, one of which came after he was reinserted late in a blowout win so that he could set the Team USA Olympic record for career rebounds; he has not been a dominant Olympic rebounder but he holds the U.S. record for most Olympic appearances (four) and most Olympic games played (31, seven more than anyone else), so it is not surprising that he set some career records.
This recitation of facts is not meant to bash Anthony or to diminish his accomplishments and his dedication to Team USA. Here is what I wrote about Anthony after the 2016 gold medal game: "I am not a huge fan of Anthony's game and I am not surprised that he again came up small in the biggest games but I must say that I was moved by how overcome with emotion he was in the moments right after the game. It is obvious that representing his country is very important to Anthony and I commend him for that, particularly since so many players over the years have turned down that opportunity; Anthony has answered that call four times and the flaws in his game do not diminish the dedication that he has demonstrated in support of America and of USA Basketball. Each player on the team committed himself to sacrifice for the greater good; this may not have been a Dream Team but it was an American team that represented America well and it was a pleasure to watch them play the right way in the gold medal game."
Dwight Howard led the NBA in rebounding five times (2008-10, 2012-13), and ranked first in blocked shots twice (2009-10) while winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards (2009-11). He made the All-NBA First Team five straight times (2008-12) and he earned eight All-NBA Team selections overall. Howard ranks 11th in ABA/NBA history with 14,627 career regular season rebounds. During his prime he was the most dominant big man in the NBA, leading the Orlando Magic past LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2009 NBA Finals before losing to Kobe Bryant's L.A. Lakers. Howard posted a 13-11 career playoff series record, including helping the Lakers to win the 2020 "bubble title." Howard should have been selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, but it is fair to say that he is not the most popular person, and it is unfortunate that his lack of popularity likely played a role in denying him a well-deserved honor.
During Danny Crawford's 32 year NBA officiating career (1985-2017), he logged more than 2000 regular season games, 300 playoff games, and 30 NBA Finals games. He was selected to work in the NBA Finals--the highest honor for an NBA official--in each of his last 23 seasons. As an NBA fan during that entire period, I can say that whenever you saw that Crawford was officiating a game you felt confident that the game would be called well and that he would maintain control without losing his temper or calling unwarranted technical fouls. Crawford's NBA career began at the height of the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird years, which was also the twilight of Julius Erving's career and the start of Michael Jordan's career, and he was still officiating during the early years of Golden State's rise to the top of the league, so Crawford had an up close view of a lot of NBA history.
Mickey Arison, who is being inducted as a Contributor, bought the Miami Heat in 1995, and since that time the Heat have been one of the league's model franchises, capturing NBA titles in 2006, 2012, and 2013 while winning the Eastern Conference Finals seven times (2006, 2011-14, 2020, 2023). Arison is highly respected for his philanthropic contributions to the Miami community and beyond.
Billy Donovan has been a very good NBA coach--posting a .546 regular season career winning percentage--but his Hall of Fame credentials are based on his outstanding college record: 502-206 (.709 winning percentage) in 21 seasons (two at Marshall, followed by 19 at Florida), including nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances (and 14 overall), four Final Fours (2000, 2005-06, 2014), and back to back NCAA titles (2006-07). Though not relevant to his Hall of Fame selection, it should be noted that Donovan was also an excellent player at Providence who played one season in the NBA.
Team USA finished sixth in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and settled for a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. Team USA's bronze medal performance in the 2006 FIBA World Championship required Team USA to earn qualification into the 2008 Olympics, an embarrassing situation for a country that should rightfully expect to dominate international basketball competitions. In The Real Story Behind Team USA's Losses in Previous FIBA Events I explained that Team USA needed to improve defensively and to create better team chemistry. The addition of Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd to the roster in 2007 solved both problems, and Team USA rolled to victory in the 2007 FIBA Americas Cup--Team USA's first gold medal in any FIBA event since 2003--before Team USA won Olympic gold in 2008. That 2008 gold medal-winning squad was dubbed "The Redeem Team," and is now the 14th team to be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
why is it so clear that Melo belongs in the HOF? Really good player, All-Star, but not someone who stands out as legendary or anywhere near
ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDeleteThere are not specific defined criteria for being inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and it is important to remember that the Basketball Hall of Fame encompasses all levels of the sport, not just pro basketball. Melo led Syracuse to an NCAA title as a freshman. He was a high scoring NBA player for an extended period of time. Although I believe that his contributions to USA Basketball have been somewhat overrated, he is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Unless you subscribe to the belief that only the top 50-75 players in pro basketball history should be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame, Melo's overall resume--college, pro, FIBA--easily qualifies him for induction.
Melo being a top 75 player all-time is somewhat debatable, but being a top 100 or top 125 player all-time isn't debatable much and very probable. Ranking #12 in NBA career scoring and making 10 AS teams(tied for #39 all-time) is enough said for HOF credentials. When he retired, he ranked #11 in career scoring. He was an elite scorer, which is the most important aspect of the game.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to find a list of players in the HOF just based of their NBA playing. After sifting through the list, there seems to be roughly 150 players. Well, that's not how the Naismith HOF works, but we can mostly tell why a person is in the HOF. Kukoc, for example, isn't in the HOF for his NBA career, but his international career, which really wasn't that great either.
Not sure if Howard should've been named to the NBA 75th anniversary team or not, but he's had a better NBA career than Melo. Though Melo's contributions to his Syracuse title team and Olympics teams might have Melo over Howard for total basketball accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteMarcel
Well deserved melo was a great player never elite he never made a 1st team all NBA or won mvp
But he was great 10 all stars, 6 all NBA, 28,000 points
I feel like melo would make hof in football and baseball
He already made the NBA hall of Fame that the top 75
He one of the greatest scorers of all time and he never played with a elite star in prime.
Idk how he can be questioned
He got a top 50 resume
Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI have not methodically made a top 100 list, let alone a top 125, but Melo would almost certainly be in the top 125 and possibly in the top 100. It is important to remember that the Hall of Fame considers all levels of play, so Melo's HoF candidacy is augmented by his college championship and his Olympic gold medals.
Marcel:
ReplyDeleteMelo is a first ballot HoFer by any reasonable criteria.
I don't understand your reference to football and baseball. Are you suggesting that he is such a great athlete that he could have been a HoFer in those sports, or are you suggesting that a football player or baseball player with similar credentials would make the HoF in those sports? I assume that you mean the latter and, if so, I agree with you.
He is definitely not top 50 from my perspective, nor do I have him in the Top 75 (but the voters did).
original anon: my criteria for HoF is subjective; it is whether I would expect to tell people, many years later, that I saw that player in person (if indeed I had). I can't imagine ever wistfully saying, well I saw Melo in person. Why? Because he wasn't a winner (after college). I'm not talking about rings. Stockton and Malone, among others, were winners, just unfortunate to be in MJ's era. Melo went to NYK, and they did not win much more. He didn't turn teams into contenders. Best effort was making it to conf finals to play against Kobe (2008, I think); but the difference between them was a chasm; Kobe was there to win, Melo seemed chill, not too worried about outcome, either way. The fact that other commenters here vehemently disagree has no effect at all on my views
ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDeleteI think that by your standards the HoF would have a lot fewer members. I remember a Sporting News article many years ago in which the author argued that the Baseball Hall of Fame should be capped at 25 members, and that in order to add someone then someone would have to be removed. Your standards do not seem quite that harsh, but you seem to feel that the HoF should be more exclusive than it is. I don't think that a HoF will ever operate on your model or the SN model because a HoF cannot make money by being that exclusive. A HoF has to be exclusive enough that the honor matters but not so exclusive that the number of inductees is very small.
Original anon, I think you're greatly mistaken. Melo is obviously no Kobe to use one of your examples, but he was obviously a phenomenal player still. Melo had plenty of flaws, but he still had a huge difference in winning still. And I would say he never had a cast with a remote chance of winning except maybe once, and he wasn't beating Kobe that year. If Kobe had one of his casts from 2005-2007 every year of his career, he's not winning anything either.
ReplyDeleteIn Melo's first season with Denver, they have a winning record and make the playoffs in 2004, which was the first time since 1995. Denver didn't have a winning record since 1994. Denver had a winning record every season with Melo. Denver didn't win 50 games since 1988, until 2008 with Melo when they had a stretch of 4 consecutive 50-win seasons.
The Knicks make the playoffs in Melo's first season in 2011, the first time since 2004. They won 50 games in 2013, the first time since 2000.
Not everything was rosy for Melo obviously but he had a great 10-12 year stretch, and he did have a big difference in winning. He was the 2nd or 3rd best player at his position for many seasons behind James and/or Durant but they are top 20 players all-time, so no harm not being the best player at position during his career.
Now if you want nitpick guys in the HOF like Kukoc or Cooper for example (I'm sure there's others too) who never even made 1 AS team and probably not even close either, then I'd agree with you.