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Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, LeBron James Join 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame Class

Los Angeles superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for 2025.

Alex Kirschenbaum

Aug. 20, 2008; Beijing, CHINA; United States guard Kobe Bryant (10) and LeBron James (6) on the bench during the USA 116-85 victory against Australia in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Stadium in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Aug. 20, 2008; Beijing, CHINA; United States guard Kobe Bryant (10) and LeBron James (6) on the bench during the USA 116-85 victory against Australia in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Stadium in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
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Los Angeles Lakers superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will be enshrined among the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's 2025 class.

But not as individual players.

The late Bryant was a member of the Class of 2020, along with along with 15-time All-Star, two-time NBA MVP and five-time champion Tim Duncan; 15-time All-Star, 2004 MVP and 2008 champion Kevin Garnett; and 10-time WNBA All-Star, 2011 MVP and 2012 champion Tamika Catchings

James, 40, has been the NBA's oldest active player for two years running. Whenever he does retire, the 21-time All-Star will be ineligible for individual enshrinement for three seasons.

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But he'll get a sneak peak at the Hall of Fame this year.

Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the 2008 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team will make the 2025 Hall of Fame. Former 2021-22 Lakers Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, both of whom played alongside James and Bryant on that Olympic squad, will also make the Hall as first-ballot inductees. Former 13-time Seattle Storm All-Star point guard Sue Bird and former WNBA MVP Minnesota Lynx power forward Maya Moore are the other players to have made the cut.

After the 2004 U.S. Olympic team under Hall of Fame head coach Larry Brown failed to win a gold medal for the time since the States had permitted pros to play in the 1992 games, the USA Basketball Executive Committee overhauled its program, bringing in former Phoenix Suns chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo to serve as the national team program's managing director.

Colangelo, angling to avoid the "me-first" ethos of that star-heavy '04 squad, hired then-Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to serve as the team's head coach.

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2004 team holdovers James, Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Carlos Boozer were joined by future Hall of Famers Bryant, Howard, Jason Kidd (a member of the coaching staff on the 2020 Lakers), Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Michael Redd, and Tayshaun Prince.

That club enjoyed an undefeated run to reclaim gold for the States, ultimately surviving a chippy Spain team led by Lakers power forward Pau Gasol and his brother, future Lakers center Marc, in the title game, 118-107.

The club's success was recently celebrated in a 2022 Netflix documentary, "The Redeem Team."

13-time All-Star Miami Heat shooting guard Wade paced the club in scoring, at 16.0 points per off the bench, while Bryant and James were the squad's de facto leaders.

This year's Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony will transpire on September 6, 2025, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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For the latest Los Angeles Lakers news and notes, stay glued to Los Angeles Lakers On SI.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Basketball is Alex's favorite sport, he likes the way they dribble up and down the court.

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