The 2025 Basketball Hall Of Fame Nominees Are Out And Both Carmelo Anthony And Dwight Howard Should Easily Be First Ballot Locks
While we all wait for the games to start back up again tonight, I think it's well past due for everyone to move on from the very boring 3pt shooting/NBA TV ratings debate that has consumed our lives for the past week or so, and instead focus our attention to another topic, the Hall Of Fame.
One of the biggest gripes you tend to hear with the Basketball Hall Of Fame is that it's actually the Basketball Hall Of Very Good. As we enter this era of players becoming eligible, I feel like that debate is as strong as ever. For example, last year we saw Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups make it out of their class and into the Hall. A player like Billups is a great case study in this debate because there are arguments for both sides. I bring this up because we now have the 2025 Class, and there are a lot of similar questions
As we do every year, let's dive into this class. On the NBA side, there are only two slam dunk no-brainer decisions.
1. Carmelo Anthony
2. Dwight Howard
Objectively, these two players should have zero pushback. They are both first ballot HOFers.
Carmelo Anthony
10x All Star, 6x All NBA, 1x scoring champ, all rookie 1st team, 3x Olympic Gold Medalist, 12th all time in scoring, and a member of the Top 75 Anniversary Team
I never really understood the pushback to those who claimed Melo wasn't a Hall Of Famer. Seems like you're overthinking things WAY too much if you truly believe that. Is it RINGGZZZZ Culture or something? Because other than that, there is no logical reason why anyone would suggest one of the greatest scorers in league history and a member of the NBA's Top 75 team isn't an automatic Hall Of Fame player. Not a second or third ballot guy either. He's a first ballot player.
I do get the sense that upon retirement people have softened up on Melo and are rightfully giving him his flowers for the type of player he was during his era, and nowhere is there a rule that says you have to win a title in order to make the HOF. Was he the perfect player? No. But so what? The resume speaks for itself.
If you were curious, Basketball Reference has him at 98.4% in terms of HOF probability, so yeah, he's a lock.
Dwight Howard
8x All Star, 8x All NBA, 5x All Defensive, 5x rebounding champ, all rookie 1st team, 3x DPOY
Dwight Howard is another guy that a lot of people seemed to be split on, and I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps it's his off the court stuff or his persona or some other thing that has nothing to do with who he was as a player? You'll notice I didn't type "Top 75 Team" in his resume, and that's another thing. It was complete bullshit that Dwight got left off that team. I'm still waiting to hear the argument as to how Damian Lillard was a more deserving nod, but no need to rehash 3 year old arguments.
If we're discussing the most dominant players of their respective eras, then there's no way you can talk about the mid 2000s/2010s without mentioning Dwight. He was a force. I mean look at this shit
He's one of those players where he played for so long, I do think there are some out there that forget what he truly was like in his prime. He played every night, you don't do shit on him defensively, and even without a well rounded offensive game he still was a handle to deal with simply because of his power.
It was bullshit he was left of the Top 75 and it would be bullshit if he's anything other than a first ballot HOFer as well. The resume is there, he has a chip (and another Finals appearance as "the guy"), and there's no need to overthink this one either. A no doubt don't even have to think about it HOFer.
Basketball Reference has him at 99.7%, so like I said, no brainer.
But what about everyone else?
I also think Sue Bird is a lock in terms of the players eligible, but after you get past those three it reintroduces the Hall of Fame vs Hall Of Very Good debate. As you may have seen in that video, we have a handful of recurring guests. While I do think the time has passed for guys like Penny Hardaway, Tom Chambers, Bill Laimbeer, and Robert Horry, two guys on the ballot could actually have a shot this time around.
Amar'e Stoudamire and Shawn Marion.
When he became eligible last year, I blogged that I felt like Stoudamire was on the bubble and Marion had enough to get in. I had him with a very similar case to someone like Billups, who ultimately got in. I view him as a jack-of-all-trades type of player, and his ranking historically backs that up. Top 87 in scoring, 45th in rebounding, 23rd in steals, 59th in blocks plus a chip.
In terms of their probability, Amar'e is sitting at 72.9% and Marion at 75.6%. Maybe that's too low for some of you out there and both guys are Hall Of Very Good players. I would just tell you, that there are a ton of HOFs currently inducted that had a worse percentage. Marion is slated right in between Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, so my gut tells me this might be the year he finally gets in, similar to Billups last year.
Amar'e is right in line with guys like Kevin Love and Jimmy Butler, but ahead of a guy like HOFer Mitch Richmond. He was more like a burning star, who was incredible when he was healthy and active, but injuries boned him. It's possible he has a fate more in line with Penny Hardaway, but then again Grant Hill got in. My guess? He's a no for this ballot, but next year might be his time.
As always, whenever these lists get put out each season, all it really does is make me feel old as shit. It's still very weird to me that all these players who are from my era of the NBA and who I watched during my formative years are now entering basketball immortality. Getting old is simply the worst.
P.S.
As basically my own personal rule, whenever I do a HOF blog I have to include what is by far my favorite non-Celtic HOF speech. Chills every time I watch it even all these years later