Source: Sean Gardner / Getty
Carmelo Anthony‘s 19-year career will finally be celebrated in a way that all NBA greats dream of: by being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The ten-time all-star will lead the Class of 2025, according to Shams Charania, thanks to his basketball journey, which began several decades earlier when the New York-born baller was raised in Baltimore.
He gained popularity as a high school player, which was highlighted by his senior year at Oak Hill Academy, and was eventually flooded with Division One college offers before eventually heading to upstate New York to play for the Syracuse Orange.
While playing for the Jim Boheim-led squad, he capped off his college career by winning the 2003 NCAA championship and declared for the NBA Draft.
In a draft that also featured fellow legends like LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade, Anthony was selected with the third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets, where he remained for the first seven years of his career. Then, he was the center of a three-team trade that ended with him becoming a New York Knick in 2011, which helped revive the city’s basketball culture, including playoff births for three straight years.
After a contentious ending with then team president Phil Jackson, Anthony became a journeyman with stints as an Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trailblazer, and eventually a Los Angeles Laker.
Still, he holds some of the league’s most impressive stats, like 2013’s scoring title, being a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, and even being only the third player to score 10,000 points for two franchises.
The 40-year-old hasn’t released an official statement on becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but he did hop in the comments when SportsCenter tweeted a question to its followers, pondering whether Anthony’s No. 15 jersey or Nikola Jokic’s should be hoisted into Denver’s rafters.
“F-ck it, put both up lol. Two different type of players. No comparisons only respect,” Anthony wrote. “Put his number up there. It should never be a comparison. We don’t even have the same play style. I had my time and era, he had his.”
See how social media is reacting to Anthony receiving the highest NBA honor below.
