Carmelo Anthony, the kid from Brooklyn who became one of the NBA’s greatest scorers, is officially a Hall of Famer. On Wednesday, April 2, 2025, ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news: Anthony’s been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 on his first try, two years after hanging up his sneakers. It’s all anyone in basketball’s talking about—a slam-dunk honor for a guy who piled up 28,289 points, three Olympic golds, and a legacy that’s got fans, players, and legends cheering loud.
The announcement dropped right before the NCAA Men’s Final Four weekend in San Antonio, where the full Class of 2025—including Anthony, Dwight Howard, and the 2008 U.S. Olympic “Redeem Team”—will be unveiled Saturday, April 5. Anthony’s induction comes after he was named a finalist back on February 15 at Chase Center, alongside Howard, Sue Bird, and others, says ESPN. Now, it’s official—he’s in, with enshrinement set for September in Springfield. “First ballot, no question,”.
Born May 29, 1984, in Brooklyn, Anthony’s story started in tough Baltimore neighborhoods before he lit up Towson Catholic High School and landed at Syracuse. In 2003, as a freshman, he carried the Orange to their first NCAA title, dropping 33 points in the semifinal against Texas and earning Most Outstanding Player honors. That one-and-done run punched his ticket to the NBA, where the Denver Nuggets snagged him third overall in the star-packed 2003 draft—right after LeBron and before Dwyane Wade. “He was a bucket from day one,” Wade said on Instagram.
In Denver, Anthony turned heads fast. His rookie year, 2003–04, he averaged 21 points and 6.1 rebounds, landing on the All-Rookie First Team and doubling the Nuggets’ wins to 43,Basketball-Reference. He made the playoffs every year there through 2010, winning two division titles. The peak? The 2008–09 Western Conference Finals, where he, Chauncey Billups, and Allen Iverson pushed the Lakers to six games before falling to Kobe Bryant’s champs. “That was my shot,” Anthony said in his 2021 memoir, Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised. He averaged 28.9 points in 2006–07, hitting 5,000 career points as the second-youngest ever, behind only LeBron.
Then came New York. Traded to the Knicks in February 2011, he spent seven seasons chasing glory in his hometown. He averaged 24.7 points and 7 rebounds over 412 games, per SI.com, and set the Knicks’ single-game record with 62 points against Charlotte in 2014—a mark Jalen Brunson’s still chasing. Playoffs were tougher—three trips, no deep runs—but his scoring kept him a star. “Madison Square Garden was home,” he told reporters. “Those fans carried me.” He made 10 All-Star teams total—six with the Knicks—and six All-NBA squads, peaking with the 2012–13 scoring title at 28.7 points per game, edging out Kevin Durant.
The later years got bumpy. After Denver and New York, Anthony bounced to Oklahoma City, Houston, Portland, and the Lakers, wrapping up in 2021–22 with 13.3 points off the bench for LA, per ESPN stats. No NBA ring ever came—his lone Conference Finals loss to the Lakers in ’09 still stings—but his 19 seasons piled up 28,289 points, 10th all-time, passing legends like Charles Barkley and Alex English. “Rings don’t define him,” Chris Paul posted. “Melo’s a legend, period.”
Beyond the NBA, Anthony’s Olympic haul shines bright. He’s the only male basketball player with three gold medals—2008, 2012, 2016—plus a 2004 bronze, racking up a U.S. record 336 points across 31 games. The 2008 “Redeem Team” with LeBron, Kobe, and Howard erased the 2004 bronze shame, and Anthony’s 31-point outburst against Australia in 2016 sealed his golden hat-trick. “I’d trade a ring for those golds,” he once told ESPN—controversial, but it shows his pride. That team’s a finalist too, but Anthony’s in solo for his whole career.
Off the court, he’s big too. His $3 million donation built Syracuse’s Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center in 2009, and he’s set to speak at their May 11 commencement. His podcast 7PM in Brooklyn keeps him in the game, and his son Kiyan’s now at Syracuse, carrying the torch. “It’s full circle,” Anthony said.