A new class of honorees will be enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame during Saturday’s ceremony, further cementing the legacy of some of the most iconic men’s and women’s basketball players. On the men’s side, the honorees feature Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, while the women’s side will induct a trio of legendary players in Maya Moore, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles. Also getting inducted are NBA and former collegiate basketball coach Billy Donovan, the entire 2008 USA men’s national team and Miami Heat owner Micky Arison.
Ahead of the ceremony, here’s a breakdown of the five players getting inducted.
Carmelo Anthony
A 10-time All Star, six-time All-NBA recipient and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, Anthony’s illustrious accomplishments span his collegiate, professional and Olympic career. Anthony’s lone college season at Syracuse was about as storybook as it gets. He entered his freshman year as one of the top prospects in the nation, either No. 1 or No. 2 depending on which recruiting ranking you used. He swept up pretty much every award imaginable in a freshman year where he averaged 22.2 points and 10 rebounds to lead Syracuse to a national championship. His single season was so dominant that he slotted fifth in CBS Sports’ ranking of the best college basketball players of the last 25 years.
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Anthony continued that dominant play in the NBA, where he was taken with the third pick in the 2003 draft by the Denver Nuggets. He finished with career averages of 22.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in 19 seasons with the Nuggets, Knicks, Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers and Lakers. Though a championship evaded him in the NBA, Anthony did collect a ton of hardware playing for Team USA in four Olympic games. He still holds the record for most points in a single game by a Team USA member with 37, has appeared in the second-most games, and is one of just three players to collect four Olympic…
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