Fellow Basketball Hall of Fame inductees praise Carmelo Anthony’s legacy
Before Carmelo Anthony’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction Saturday, his fellow Hall of Fame peers spoke about his legacy. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Chris Bosh prepared himself for battle every time he was tasked with boxing out Carmelo Anthony on a free throw. Bosh, a 6-foot-11 two-time NBA champion forward, said Anthony is much-more physically imposing than most are led to believe.
Anthony’s 6-foot-8 frame and chunky 238-pound build initially deceived Bosh. But whenever Bosh walked up to the free-throw line and saw an awaiting Anthony, whether during practice on USA Basketball’s 2008 Olympic Redeem Team or in Eastern Conference playoff games at Madison Square Garden in the early 2010s, fear entered his heart.
“Any time he was right there and I had to box him out, I hated it,” Bosh said of Anthony. “If you watch tape on Melo playing games and watch the free-throw box-out situation, watch how physical he was every single time. He always loved to wrestle.”
Before Anthony’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2025 class on Saturday, his peers and fellow inductees celebrated the former Syracuse University star’s impact on the sport. Bosh, three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard and Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan — Anthony’s coach in 2017-18 with the Oklahoma City Thunder — recounted their best memories with Anthony and revealed the traits they believe paved his path to Springfield.
“Everybody loves Carmelo,” said Donovan, another 2025 Hall of Fame inductee. “To be able to be here in this class with him means a lot to me.”
In just one season coaching him, Donovan instantly got a look behind the curtain at Anthony’s Hall of Fame-level approach.
After Anthony was traded from the New York Knicks to the Thunder in 2017, Donovan remembers watching Anthony workout the day before the first training camp practice of the year. Donovan became fascinated with his training sessions, because Anthony’s workout-of-choice was battling teammates in one-on-one games.
Sometimes, Donovan said, Anthony would play ones and intentionally avoid dribbling to hone in on his footwork. Donovan marveled at Anthony’s ability to move smoothly in tight spaces while relying his size and strength to overpower defenders without having to break their ankles. He said anytime Anthony faced a defender up, he could get any shot he wanted.
Donovan continued watching Anthony school his teammates in one-on-ones for the rest of the season.
“He just mastered, in my opinion, his game and who he was,” Donovan said of Anthony. “And it was a treasure to watch him in those moments playing against guys (one on one) and how he went about setting things up.”
That’s easy for Donovan to say, but according to Bosh, most players didn’t find Anthony’s one-on-one dominance amusing. He was a victim on many occasions.
Bosh and Anthony were part of the same 2003 NBA Draft class, getting selected back-to-back with the third and fourth overall picks. Bosh, a Georgia Tech alum, also played against Anthony during his NCAA-title-winning season for Syracuse. “Boy, he could play,” Bosh thought of Anthony. He said he hadn’t seen many players who combined elite perimeter shooting with tenacious defense and rebounding — until watching a teenage Anthony.
“Even though he was playing on the perimeter a lot, he would still get you 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds),” Bosh said of Anthony. “The way he could shoot, the way he could put (the ball) on the floor and just his knack for the game was unmatched.”
Bosh made his favorite memories with Anthony on the 2008 Olympic Redeem Team, Team USA’s resurgent gold-medal winning squad. After finishing with a disappointing bronze in 2004, Anthony joined a team with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Bosh, Howard and others, who brought Team USA back to the top of the world — a pedestal it hasn’t left since.
Chris Bosh talks to reporters at the Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony. After facing Carmelo Anthony at Georgia Tech, Chris Bosh was selected one pick after the Syracuse star. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
It was during the summer games in Beijing when Bosh realized Anthony’s best trait: stretching the floor. Anthony was one of the first weapons in basketball’s modern era to display masterful 3-point shooting while doubling as a physical power forward. In practices leading up to the Olympics, Bosh said Anthony made life miserable for Team USA’s defenders.
“When (Carmelo) would put on a USA Basketball jersey, I don’t know what it was; he couldn’t miss,” Bosh said. “He was very deadly efficient.”
Anthony, as one of the youngest players on the squad, averaged 11.5 points per game and splashed the second-most 3s per game (1.8) for Team USA.
“Competing against Melo was so much fun,” Howard said. “But competing with him was an even greater experience.”
Howard, a fellow 2025 inductee, found playing with Anthony to be surreal. He started watching Anthony when he was 16 — which turned out to be the perfect time. Howard closely paid attention to Anthony’s 2003 season with the Orange, when he and Hakim Warrick led Syracuse to the top of the college basketball universe.
A high-schooler in Atlanta at the time, Howard dreamed of one day obtaining the skillsets of Anthony and Warrick.
“I’m like, ‘Man, I want to have hops like Hakim and I want to shoot like Melo,’” Howard remembers saying.
Five years later, Anthony and Howard became two major reasons why the Redeem Team earned its nickname.
Senior Staff Writer Justin Girshon contributed reporting to this story.
