Ex-Blazer CJ McCollum on Carmelo Anthony’s Hall of Fame Induction

Last year, NBA legend Carmelo Anthony was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2025 Class alongside Dwight Howard, WNBA icons Sue Bird, Maya Moore, and Sylvia Fowles. Anthony, now a member of the NBC Sports broadcast team, played 19 years in the NBA.

Playing with teams such as the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Los Angeles Lakers. Over the course of his career, Anthony has played with numerous players from all walks of life. Some of them were All-Stars, future Hall of Famers, and star-caliber players at each stop.

He even needed former teammates Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to speak with the Blazers front office to allow Carmelo Anthony to continue playing after being traded from the Houston Rockets after just ten games to the Chicago Bulls for the rights to Jon Diebler, and cash considerations to Chicago in exchange for the rights to Tadija Dragićević. 

According to the NBA Salary Cap enthusiast, Albert Nahamad, at the time reported, “Bulls are responsible for the net $667K left on Carmelo Anthony’s contract ($1.055M in salary – $388K reimbursement from NBA). Rockets will send $1.57M in total cash, to cover that plus a $900K profit. Which leaves them with $566K of tradable cash remaining for rest of 2018-19.”

Mike D’Antoni was asked about Carmelo Anthony being traded and said they tried to hit a home run, but it didn’t work out.

“We tried to hit a home run, and it didn’t work out,” Mike D’Antoni told reporters in November of 2018.

Carmelo Anthony would sign with the Blazers on November 19th, 2019, after being out of the league for a year.

“Carmelo is an established star in this league that will provide a respected presence in our locker room and a skill set at a position of need on the floor,” said Blazers President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey in a statement.

He would then re-sign with the Blazers the following season as well.

Last season in Dallas, Damian Lillard spoke about Carmelo Anthony being inducted into the 2025 Hall of Fame Class.

“Yeah, he’s Melo, so I mean it’s an easy call,” said Lillard. “There’s no debating Hall of Famer. I don’t see why it would be any other way.”

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Anthony’s other teammate, CJ McCollum, recently spoke about his 2025 induction.

“Yeah, I’m really happy about Mel going into the Hall of Fame. A guy I’ve known for a few years now. Great work ethic and great career. He’s a good friend of mine who does things the right way—how he prepares, how he takes care of his body, and how he takes care of his mind,” said McCollum.

“Obviously, he went through a lot of adversity toward the back end of his career, but I was grateful to play with him in Portland and be part of his career. Off the court, we’ve also done some great things together on the wine side and shared some really memorable moments, especially in the bubble. He’s a friend for life.

I’m happy to see him transitioning so well into life after basketball. He’s doing great on TV.

Obviously, he is still present his son [Kiyan]’s life. His son is doing very well at Syracuse. Overall, I’m just really happy for him. I love seeing good things happen to good people.”

Carmelo Anthony finished his career averaging 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game in 1260 games. He was also a ten-time All-Star, a member of the top 75 team, and a three-time gold medalist.