Predicting Which 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame Nominees Make the Cut

Some major All-Stars were first-time nominees.

Nov 14, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) is restrained by official Scott Foster (48) as he confronts Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) and shooting guard James Harden (13) during the third quarter of a game at Madison Square Garden. The Rockets beat the Knicks 109-106. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has officially unveiled its full list of nominees for the 2025 class, as it declared in a press statement.

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The tally of nominated players includes former multi-time NBA All-Stars Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Ama're Stoudemire, Marc Gasol, Bill Laimbeer, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, Shawn Marion, Tom Chambers, Maurice Lucas, Terry Cummings, Clint "Buck" Williams, and Reggie Theus. One iconic non-All-Star, seven-time NBA champion role player Robert Horry made the crop. A pair of NCAA standouts, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth standout point guard Marques Houtman and former two-time Duke All-American center Mike Gminski, were also nominated.

On the WNBA side, former All-Stars Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Sylvia Fowles, Chamique Holdsclaw, Cheryl Ford, Lisa Bluder, Ticha Penicheiro, and Ruth Riley. For women's college hoopers, former two-time Tennessee champion Bridgette Gordon (she was already 40 during the WNBA's 1997 debut season, and played one game for the Sacramento Monarchs), former Stanford point guard Jennifer Azzi, former Boston University guard Debbie Miller-Palmore.

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, who won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008, and Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan are the two active NBA head coaches to have made the cut, though Donovan is likely being recognized for his achievements at the collegiate level, where he led Florida to a pair of NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007.

Looking strictly at players, who are we guaranteeing to make the cut this year? Let's dig in.

Carmelo Anthony

Anthony, a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA Team small forward while with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, is one of the most prolific sharpshooters in league history, and a member of the NBA's exclusive, 75-man 75th Anniversary squad.

The 6-foot-7 swingman may not have made it past one lone conference finals appearance in a 19-year run, but he is heavily decorated both internationally (he won three gold medals and one bronze in Olympic play), and his combined 28,289 career regular season points make him the 12th-leading scorer in the combined history of the NBA and ABA.

Across 1,260 regular season bouts, Anthony boasts averages of 22.5 points on .447/.355/.814 shooting splits, 6.2 boards, and 2.7 dishes per.

Dwight Howard

Howard, who's still actively playing pro ball abroad, was one of his generation's best defenders, and in his prime was one of his generation's best players, period. In a bountiful 18-season run through the league, the 6-foot-10 center won three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year honors from 2009-11, was named to eight All-Star and All-NBA squads, and five All-Defensive Teams. He brought his Orlando Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals as the club's clear No. 1 player, but wouldn't win a title until he had become a (core) bench piece on the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers.

Howard finished among the top seven in league MVP voting across five straight seasons. His best such finish was as runner-up to Derrick Rose in 2011. He was omitted from the NBA 75th Anniversary squad, but his was one of the league's more widely agreed-upon snubs.

For his career, the rim-rolling center boasts averages of 15.7 points on 58.7 percent shooting from the field, 11.8 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 1.3 assists and 0.9 steals a night.

The big caveat with Howard is his mileage following his Magic run. After a forcing a trade out of town in 2012, Howard switched teams eight times in 10 years, and he rarely made the best impression on his various star colleagues. He has also run into some questionable off-court circumstances, as well.

Sue Bird

A member of the WNBA's 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th Anniversary Teams, Bird was a 13-time All-Star point guard with the Seattle Storm throughout a 21-season career, from 2002-22.

The 5-foot-9 point guard was also an eight-time All-WNBA Teamer, and three times led the WNBA in assists, claiming four league titles during her league tenure. Bird was one of the league's best passers in its history, not just by counting stats but also by pure on-court impact, and became a beloved figure during her Seattle run.

Across 580 regular season bouts, the University of Connecticut product logged averages of 11.7 points on .429/.392/.853 shooting splits, 5.6 dimes and 2.5 rebounds a night.

Sylvia Fowles

Fowles, also a member of the WNBA 25th Anniversary Team, makes a pretty clear-cut case for consideration.

The Chicago Sky selected Fowles with the No. 2 overall pick out of LSU in the 2008 NBA Draft. The young center quickly emerged as an All-Star, then an All-Defensive standout, and finally the 2011 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year while she and fellow superstar Elena Della Donne eventually led Chicago to its first-ever WNBA Finals, where the 15-19 club fell 3-0 to the 29-5 Phoenix Mercury. Fowles was essentially Howard's WNBA parallel, albeit far more successful in the postseason.

Fowles demanded to be traded the next season, and was shipped off to the Minnesota Lynx, where she would spend the rest of her WNBA career. The eight-time All-Star instantly won her first championship with Minnesota during her first season with Maya Moore and co., 2015, and her second in 2017. Fowles was named Finals MVP in each instance.

The 6-foot-6 big was also an 11-time All-Defensive Teamer, an eight-time All-WNBA Teamer (including three First Team berths), and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year. She thrice led the league in rebounding and twice in blocks.

Maya Moore

A 6-foot power forward out of UConn, the 35-year-old Moore could have still been playing. But she hung up her sneakers for good following just an eight-year WNBA career to commit herself full-time to criminal justice reform advocacy.

But Moore made major waves during her pro run.

She finished among the top 13 in MVP voting in all eight of her seasons, including in the top three on four separate occasions, winning in 2014. Moore was a seven-time All-WNBA honoree, a six-time All-Star, a four-time league champion, and a two-time All-Defensive Teamer.

For her career, Moore averaaged 18.4 points on .453/.384/.860 shooting splits, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals a night.

Fringe Cases

Anthony's former Knicks teammate Ama're Stoudemire was well on his way to being a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer, but poor knees cut him down in his prime, limiting him to six All-Star appearances, scant longevity and finite playoff success after his Phoenix Suns days. He was the second-best player on several Suns squads that did advance to multiple conference finals, behind 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Steve Nash, and marginally ahead of four-time All-Star small forward Shawn Marion, who later won a title as a starter on the Dallas Mavericks. Stoudemire is a first-time nominee this year, and while he may not get in right away, he seems liable to make the cut eventually. Marion's journey may take longer.

Laimbeer, a three-time All-Star and two-time champion with the Detroit Pistons, was loathed by his enemies and hasn't endeared himself in his post-playing career. Unlike Howard, Laimbeer appears to have been universally beloved by teammates, however. After all, his Pistons appeared in three consecutive NBA Finals from 1988-90, winning in '89 and '90. He was a core part of the club's devastating defensive attack. Three of his teammates — point guard Isiah Thomas, shooting guard Joe Dumars, and small forward Dennis Rodman — have all already made the Hall of Fame. He was the fourth-most important player on that squad. If he makes it, he'll be a worthy addition.

Gasol is an international superstar, though his on-court credits would rank him a bit behind Stoudemire on an all-time tally. The three-time All-Star, one-time champion and 2013 Defensive Player of the Year's achievements on a global stage — highlighted by a pair of silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, where his Team Spain lost to some loaded Team USA squads — should put him over the top sooner rather than later. It seems likely he will make the cut this year.

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