What Are Current, Former Celtics Stars’ Hall Of Fame Chances?

The 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony takes place on Sunday.

ESPN national NBA writer Zach Kram detailed which 50 modern stars could be joining the rest of the legends in Springfield someday, including a number of current and former Boston Celtics.

No current or former Celtics cracked Kram’s list of ten players in group one — “NBA 75th Anniversary Team locks” — and the only name in group two (“Non-Top-75 locks”) was Kyrie Irving. The 2011 first overall pick played with Boston for two seasons from 2017 to 2019.

Jayson Tatum is the first member of the current Celtics to make the list, being placed in group three — “young stars well on their way.” Tatum is joined in that group by Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama.

“Still in their mid-20s, Doncic and Tatum might already be locks. The former has five first team All-NBA selections, while the latter has four, plus a third team nod,” Kram wrote. “Yet for now, they’re arguably just short of, say, (Shai) Gilgeous-Alexander because of one hiccup apiece. For Doncic, it’s the lack of a title; for Tatum, it’s the uncertainty around his right Achilles injury and whether he’ll return at an All-NBA level. Basketball-Reference’s Hall of Fame probability tool pegs Doncic’s and Tatum’s odds, if they retired today, at 45% and 59%, respectively. Those numbers will surely tick up over the coming years — but Doncic and Tatum aren’t quite locks yet.”

Both Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday and free agent center Al Horford are among six players in group four — “veterans on the bubble.”

Holiday spent the last two seasons in Beantown and helped them win the 2024 NBA title before being traded to Portland in July.

Horford played seven seasons across two stints with the Celtics, making his fifth and most recent All-Star team with Boston during the 2017-18 campaign. Horford, like Holiday, was a crucial member of last year’s championship squad.

The 39-year-old is still unsigned but is expected to land with the Golden State Warriors eventually.

“Guards (Kyle) Lowry and Holiday have very similar cases, and while their raw stats might not look Hall-worthy, they should get boosts as consummate winners and respected all-around contributors,” Kram wrote. “The Basketball Hall of Fame’s consideration of all levels of basketball could benefit Horford a great deal, thanks to his back-to-back collegiate titles at Florida. In the one-and-done era, few players will receive a notable NCAA boost to their Hall of Fame cases — Horford might be the exception.”

Jaylen Brown is in group five, which Kram labels as “29-year-olds on the edge.”

“Brown, the final member of this group, has one uniquely compelling award on his mantel: Finals MVP, which is almost a guarantee of eventual enshrinement: Cedric Maxwell and Andre Iguodala (who hasn’t had a chance to be on the ballot yet) are the only retired Finals MVPs not in the Hall,” he wrote. “However, most Finals MVPs have much more robust résumés overall than Brown, a one-time All-NBA honoree who has never been the best player on his own team. Like all the other players in this tier, he still has work to do — and he’ll have the opportunity to impress as the Celtics’ go-to scorer this upcoming season with Tatum out due to an Achilles tear.”