Carmelo Anthony named a finalist for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

SAN FRANCISCO — Former Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony was named a finalist for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday — twice.

Anthony, 40, is among 16 individual finalists for the 2025 class, 10 of whom were players. He was also part of the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team, nicknamed “The Redeem Team,” that was recognized as a finalist.

The new Hall of Fame class will be unveiled on April 5 at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Anthony played the first seven full years of his NBA career with the Nuggets, earning All-NBA honors four times in Denver before he was traded to the New York Knicks 50 games into his eighth season, in February 2011. The blockbuster deal included a pick swap that allowed the Nuggets to draft Jamal Murray five years later, helping set the course for them to win their first NBA championship in 2023.

Anthony has disputed that he ever demanded a trade from Denver, but former coach George Karl has publicly maintained that the messy divorce between Anthony and Denver was initiated by the player.

“As far as Denver goes, my love for Denver is high,” Anthony recently told Boardroom, a media outlet founded by Kevin Durant. “I hold Denver damn near where I hold New York at, because it was the beginning. We built that.”

The Nuggets made the playoffs every year of the Anthony era but only progressed past the first round once. In 2009, Anthony and Chauncey Billups led the franchise to its first Western Conference Finals since 1985, but the Lakers ended the run in six games.

In 564 games with Denver — the most he played for any team — Anthony averaged 24.8 points and 6.3 rebounds.

There are nine players who appeared in 100 or more games with the Nuggets enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame: Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, David Thompson, George McGinnis, Charlie Scott, Alex English, Dikembe Mutombo, Allen Iverson and most recently Billups, who was inducted last year.

The NBA shares a Hall of Fame with the rest of its sport, honoring accomplishments in men’s and women’s basketball, as well as international competition.

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