Basketball Hall of Fame: Who is eligible in 2025, 2026 and 2027 - ESPN

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame welcomes its latest inductees, with former NBA stars Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups headlining the 13-member class.

The class of 2024 also includes Los Angeles Lakers legends Jerry West and Michael Cooper. West will become the first person inducted three times, with his latest election coming as a contributor to the game.

The 2025 group of inductees will be announced in April at the NCAA Division I Final Four in San Antonio, but with no certain Hall of Famers becoming newly eligible next year, let's also look at the previous candidates on the ballot who might make it.

As for the 2026 class, there will be at least one likely first-time selection when Carmelo Anthony is on the ballot. LaMarcus Aldridge has an interesting case for 2026, as does his former Brooklyn Nets teammate Blake Griffin for the 2027 class.

Projecting Hall of Fame inductees isn't always easy because of the lack of transparency in the process — as explained previously by ESPN's Baxter Holmes — conducted by committees with unknown members behind closed doors. Still, we'll do our best to consider who might soon be getting the call.

Looking to next year and beyond, let's consider which former NBA players will be on the ballot four years after their retirement as we project classes in 2025, 2026 and 2027.

None

The best player who retired from the NBA after 2020-21 was Marc Gasol, although he continued to play in Spain for the club he founded, Basquet Girona, until this January. The Hall hasn't been consistent in terms of how it has handled such appearances in terms of the timeline for eligibility, but I don't think Gasol will be on the ballot until 2028. His brother Pau Gasol was inducted in 2023.

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