Last Updated:
Anthony and Howard were among the finalists announced Friday by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame for enshrinement as part of the class of 2025
Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard (AP)
Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard are one step closer to going into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
If all goes well, they might get in twice.
Anthony and Howard were among the finalists announced Friday by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame for enshrinement as part of the class of 2025. They both made it as individuals — and for their roles on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that won gold at the Beijing Games, the so-called “Redeem Team” that also is now one step from induction.
“I think any time you have an association with a group of people that come together for a common cause and good, you see a lot of good things happen,” said Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo, who also was managing director of the 2008 Olympic team.
“I’ve said some things about that experience … ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ being played, the flag being raised, it was a moment of total completion.”
The other finalists as picked by the North American committee were Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan (a two-time NCAA champion coach at Florida); Gonzaga coach Mark Few; retired NBA referee Danny Crawford; NBA legends Marques Johnson and Buck Williams; and Jerry Welsh — who coached Potsdam in upstate New York to NCAA Division III titles in 1981 and 1986.
Also announced as finalists on Friday: women’s basketball greats and Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore and Jennifer Azzi. Bird won five Olympic golds, Fowles won four, Moore won two, and Azzi was part of the team that won gold at Atlanta in 1996.
The finalists have one more step to go: the Hall’s Honors Committee will meet in the coming weeks, with 18 votes from that 24-person panel needed for election. The class will be unveiled at the NCAA men’s Final Four in San Antonio on April 5.
Enshrinement weekend is Sept. 5-6 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, and the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
