When will James be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame if he retires tomorrow

Recently, Carmelo Anthony was officially inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Anthony talked about his national teammate LeBron James in an interview with reporters: "He is still playing, it's incredible, brother. We have been talking about each other since we were 17 and 18 years old, we have been talking about each other, connected and compared... And now I'm about to enter the Hall of Fame, and he, I really hope he retires and joins us here. It's enough, it's time to rest."

James and Anthony's high school years

James and Anthony's rookie seasons

James and Anthony's Lakers' time

As of now, the four brothers of the Banana Boat, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony have been officially inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Wade was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023. Chris Paul has reached an agreement with the Clippers to return to the Clippers with a one-year, $3.5 million veteran contract.

Then, we have a question, when will James be inducted into the Hall of Fame if he retires tomorrow?

James is now ranked second in history, so let's take the top ten players in history as a reference.

In the past decade, the top ten retired players include Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

Note: ESPN ranked the top ten historically given by it in May 2025.

Kobe Bryant - After 4 years of

Kobe finished his career and retired from professional basketball.

On April 5, 2020, Kobe was officially inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Tim Duncan - 4 years

On July 11, 2016, Tim Duncan officially announced his retirement, ending his career.

On April 5, 2020, Tim Duncan was selected for the Naismith Basketball Celebrity Memorial.

Let's see how many years it took for Anthony and Wade, the same group as James, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Wade - 4 years

On April 11, 2019, Wade officially announced his retirement after completing the last game of his career, ending his 16-year career.

On August 13, 2023, Heat legend Dwyane Wade was officially inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Anthony - The last NBA season in 3 years, 2021-22 season, the 37-year-old Anthony played for the Lakers 69 games, averaging 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1 assist per game.

Announced retirement date

On May 22, 2023, Cameron Anthony posted a video on social media to announce his retirement.

Inducted in the Hall of Fame Time

On September 7, 2025, Anthony was officially inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Let's see how long it took Jordan from retirement to induction into the Hall of Fame.

Michael Jordan - The last game of his NBA career in 6 years was April 16, 2003.

On April 7, 2009, Jordan was officially inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. According to the latest rules, the revised rules in 2017 are three years from the time a player completes his last NBA regular season game to being inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, before five years. This is also why Jordan took 6 years to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, while Kobe and Duncan took four years to be inducted into the Melon even put the effect of the rules to the extreme. His last NBA game was only more than three years apart from his induction into the Hall of Fame. Therefore, we can conclude that if James announces his retirement tomorrow, considering his career achievements and historical status, he will most likely be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2028, when he is only 44 years old.