LeBron James reacts to Carmelo Anthony being named a Hall of Fame finalist

If we’re talking about the most iconic and successful NBA Draft classes in league history, the group of players that came into the NBA in 2003 is one of the first that needs to be mentioned. This class includes numerous players who carved out terrific careers as contributors on title-contending teams — we’re talking about guys like Boris Diaw, Kirk Heinrich, David West, Mo Williams, Kyle Korver, Josh Howard and Kendrick Perkins — a pair of Hall of Famers in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and the man many believe is the greatest basketball player of all-time, LeBron James.

The 2003 NBA Draft class also includes Carmelo Anthony, who as of earlier this week is now officially a Basketball Hall of Fame finalist. There seems to be little doubt that Anthony will be a first ballot Hall of Famer. He retired as one of the top ten scorers in league history, he’s a defining player of the era he played in, he won a National Championship and NCAA Tournament MOP as a freshman at Syracuse, and he’s one of the most accomplished players in the history of Team USA basketball.

So for good reason, Carmelo has been receiving his flowers — not a Valentine’s Day pun, by the way — including a metaphorical bouquet from his friend and 2003 Draft brother LeBron James, who sent out an all-caps congratulatory message to the Hall of Fame finalist on X.

“WELL DESERVING MY BROTHER!!!!!” LeBron said in reply to Carmelo’s reaction to being named a Hall of Fame finalist. “SO DAMN HAPPY AND PROUD OF YOU CHAMP!!”

LeBron and Carmelo were the presumptive top two picks in the 2003 NBA Draft, but the Detroit Pistons stunned everyone on draft night when they selected 18-year-old Serbian Darko Milicic with the 2nd pick. Milicic would go on to start just 208 games in his short-lived NBA career. Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony posted 272 games with at least 30 points in his 19-year NBA career and retired as one of the top ten scorers in NBA history with 28,289 points.

Throughout their respective careers, LeBron and Carmelo played against one another 36 times in the regular season, with LeBron having a 22-14 edge over his longtime rival. It’s fitting though that Carmelo’s last year in the NBA came as a teammate of LeBron on the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season. Melo averaged 13.3 points per game in 26 minutes of action each night across 69 games for the Lakers, who finished 33-49 and missed out on the NBA Playoffs.