Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Maya Moore enter the Hall of Fame
Anthony and Howard were double consecrated as members of the 2008 Olympic basketball team, known as the ‘Redeem Team’, after winning gold at the Beijing Olympic Games that summer that summer that summer
Springfield, Massachusetts – Carmelo Anthony He learned harsh lessons when he reached maturity playing basketball in Brooklyn and Baltimore game fields.
This culminated with its incorporation as one of the purest scorers and the most decorated players in the history of sport.
When you take the stage for incorporation into the Basketball Hall of Basketball Naismith Memorial On Saturday, among songs of “Melo! Melo!”, Anthony took his place with the immortals of basketball.
“Sorry for my language, but damn it,” said Anthony, in tears. “Tonight I don’t enter the Hall of Fame simply; I wear the echo of all the voices that told me I couldn’t … I had to build a new path. I had to write a new final.”
Anthony was part of a quintet of players who entered the room on Saturday, together with Dwight Howard, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles. Together they were part of 11 WNBA or NBA champions teams, they won 15 Olympic gold medals, participated in 37 All-NBA or All-Wnba and were appointed All-Stars 45 times throughout their races.
“I never received a NBA ring … but I know what I gave to basketball,” Anthony said.
Anthony and Howard were consecrated by double as members of the 2008 Olympic basketball team, known as the “Redeemer team”, after winning gold at the Beijing Olympic Games that summer, after just getting a bronze in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the FIBA World Championship 2006. Howard and Anthony joined the team members of 2008 Jason Kidd, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the late Kobe Bryant, who had already been individually consecrated.
This year’s class was completed with the Chicago Bulls coach and twice NCAA champion, Billy Donovan; the general managing partner of the Miami Heat, Micky Arison; and the veteran NBA referee, Danny Crawford.
The inclusion of Bird, Moore and Fowles marked the first time that three WNBA players will enter the Hall of Fame the same year.
Bird commented that being on stage on Saturday made him appreciate the path traveled from Syosset, New York, predicting in his yearbook of high school that would one day become a professional soccer or basketball player.
“There was no logical place for a girl like me,” he said.
Saturday was also a sample of how interconnected these three women were. Bird and Moore, with two NCAA titles each in Connecticut. Fowles was also key in the last two of Moore’s four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx. The three played together and won gold medals for the United States in the Olympic team.
All members of the REDEM team were present, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, who died in 2020.
LeBron James, who was 23 in 2008, said that the tonic of that team was marked by the Lakers’ legend.
“We only wanted to be up to it and proud,” James said.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that the mission of that team was clear from the moment it was formed.
“Our goal was to win the gold medal, but also recover the respect of our country,” said Krzyzewski.
Moore believes that his career in basketball, full of university championships and WNBA, and MVP trophies, was simply the prelude to his post-basketball vocation: to build what she called “champions communities.”
“Now that I am in the Hall of Fame, I think I have become the Mayan aunt,” he said.
Moore retired before the 2019 WNBA season to focus on social justice issues and help revoke the unfair conviction of her current husband, Jonathan Irons.
He dedicated his speech to implore the current generation to use his platforms to promote change in his own communities.
“They discover what motivates them every day when you get out of bed,” said Moore. “I want to challenge you, those who are starting, to look for joy and connection every day.”
Howard, one of the four players with three awards for the defensive player of the year, became known for his fun way to express himself on the court. He demonstrated all those attributes during a speech that honored his parents’ sacrifices, in particular how his mother suffered seven spontaneous abortions before giving birth in his eighth attempt.
“My mother lost seven children and he allowed me to bring light to her life,” he said. “I feel honored to be in front of you as one of the best basketball players in history.”
Howard was presented by Dominique Wilkins, Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Ewing and Robert Parish. He also recognized other great pivots, such as Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dikembe Mutombo. On Saturday, the 50th anniversary of Russell consecration was commemorated.
His speech joked with his “Superman fight” with Shaquille O’Neal and included an imitation of Stan Van Gundy, his former Orlando Magic.
But he concluded his speech with a message to his children, imploring them to pursue their dreams.
“He only dies once, but he lives every day,” said Howard.
Arison thanked the former Heat players present, such as James, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem and Alonzo Mourning, for their contributions to what has become what was known as the “Culture of the Heat” during its team management.
Arison also joked, looking at James when he remembered the champions teams led by James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, referring to the now infamous prediction of James about the success of the trio.
“In 2010, with Dwyane, LeBron and Chris Bosh we knew we could win. Not one, not two … I guess there were only two,” said Arison.
