Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Sue Bird, Micky Arison, ‘Redeem Team’ among Hall of Fame finalists

SAN FRANCISCO (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.”

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.

“You look at the accomplishments for each of them in terms of championships, in terms of winning gold, in terms of being the players they were for as long as they were, it’s a real tribute to the game of basketball and women’s basketball in particular,” Colangelo said.

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.

“I tell everybody he’s not really a coach,” said Steve Babiarz, who played on Welsh’s 1986 national championship team. “He’s everybody’s mentor, a second father. Coaching was secondary. He brought student-athletes there to be successful and his personality, his character, the way he’s about family, I mean, I played for him 40 years ago and I talk to him every single month since I left Potsdam. He’s my hero.”

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.

“He’s just a great owner,” Heat President Pat Riley, a 2008 Hall of Fame inductee, said of Arison. “It’s a family organization.”

The Women’s Veteran Committee put forward Molly Bolin, who was the first player signed by the Women’s Professional Basketball League. And the International Committee selected as a finalist former Serbian professional player and longtime coach Dusan Ivkovic — already a FIBA Hall of Famer.

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.

“Selection as a finalist for the Class of 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is a remarkable achievement, signifying a career of excellence and lasting influence on the game,” Colangelo said. “This recognition goes beyond statistics and accolades — it honors those who have defined eras, inspired generations, and elevated basketball through their talent, leadership and dedication.”

Enshrinement weekend is Sept. 5-6 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, and the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Media, lifetime achievement awards

Detroit Pistons play-by-play announcer George Blaha, CBS analyst Clark Kellogg, women’s basketball writer Michelle Smith and influential NBA journalist Adrian Wojnarowski were revealed Friday as the winners of this year’s Curt Gowdy Media Awards by the Hall of Fame.

The Gowdy awards, the Hall said, are “presented to members of the print, electronic, and transformative media whose efforts have made a significant contribution to the game of basketball.”

Also honored Friday was longtime Boston Celtics vice president of media and alumni relations Jeff Twiss, who received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award. That award, the Hall said, is “the most prestigious award presented by the Hall of Fame” other than enshrinement.

Blaha has been the voice of the Pistons since 1976. Kellogg joined CBS Sports in 1993 and has been a part of its NCAA Tournament coverage for more than three decades. Smith has written for ESPN, the San Francisco Chronicle and AOL Fanhouse, among others. Wojnarowski was a news-breaker for ESPN and a New York Times best-selling author who retired from journalism last year to become the general manager of the men’s basketball team at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure.

Twiss has been with the Celtics since 1981, and Boston has won four NBA titles in that span.

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