Report: Carmelo Anthony to be inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame

Carmelo Anthony is set to enter basketball immortality.

The 10-time NBA all-star has been voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday.

Anthony, 40, played 19 seasons in the NBA after being selected third overall by the Denver Nuggets in the famed 2003 draft class behind LeBron James and Darko Milicic.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native and Syracuse product would go on to spend eight years in the Mile High City before being granted a trade request to the New York Knicks midway through the 2010-11 season.

Anthony continued his high-level play over seven seasons with the Knicks and led the NBA in scoring in 2012-13.

He wrapped his NBA career with five seasons spread between Oklahoma City, Houston, Portland and the Los Angeles Lakers.

While Anthony, a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, never experienced great team success in the league, he won three Olympic gold medals as a member of Team USA.

Other candidates for the class of 2025 include former NBA MVP Dwight Howard and women’s basketball greats and Olympic gold medallists Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore and Jennifer Azzi.

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.

Miami Heat managing general partner Micky Arison is also a finalist for enshrinement. Arison was put forward by the Contributors Committee, as was longtime Maccabi Tel Aviv star Tal Brody.

–with files from The Associated Press

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