Carmelo Anthony has officially retired from the NBA after playing 19 seasons for six different teams: the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.
On May 17, the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft announced on social media that he would not be returning to the NBA, but instead was looking forward to seeing his son, Kiyan, who will be attending his alma mater, Syracuse University, after playing for the Royals at Christ the King Regional High School, an elite Catholic school in Queens with an exceptional high school basketball team.
Thank you #STAYME7O pic.twitter.com/4au8cOd13s
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) May 22, 2023
Although the NBA star has never won a championship, Melo’s NBA career is comparable to that of LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan for being a rookie at the age of 19 and helping to reinvent the sport.
When Melo was drafted to the NBA after a successful one year at Syracuse, where he led the team to the NCAA Championship, was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and was also named the Big East Rookie of the Year and a consensus first team All-American in the 2002-2003 season, he was tasked with playing a developmental role and making the Nuggets (2003) a contending team.
Currently, the Nuggets have made it to the NBA Finals in its franchise history, having reached the Western Conference Finals only four times, in 1978, 1985, 2009 and 2020, but have never been able to advance to the NBA Finals until 2023. Between the 1990s and 2000s, however, the team was barely good enough to make the playoffs.
When Melo was drafted by the Nuggets, he revitalized the team and turned its mediocrity into competitiveness. The 2003 Nuggets rebuilt their team with a young, highly touted Melo who brought a new winning culture.
Melo helped lead the Nuggets to six playoff appearances and the 2009 Western Conference Finals.
Melo had a lasting legacy in Denver, becoming one of the greatest players in Nuggets history; he was traded to the New York Knicks in 2011, where he spent seven seasons with the Knicks, averaging 25.4 points per game.
In his career, Melo was a 10-time NBA All-Star, six of which were with the Knicks. Just like the Nuggets, Melo ushered in a winning culture for the Knicks, turning the team’s subpar reputation in the 2000s – without NBA legend Patrick Ewing, the Knicks needed a star to fill the void – into a four-time playoff team.
Melo had the opportunity to play for a number of teams, the player got traded to the Thunders (2017), the Rockets (2018), the Blazers (2019), and he was last playing with LeBron and the Lakers. Melo never played a game for the Bulls in 2019, but he was traded to the Bulls by the Houston Rockets in exchange for Cameron Payne, Wayne Ellington, and a future second-round pick.
Melo retired as the 9th leading scorer in NBA history. He scored 28,289 points in his career. He also averaged 6.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Melo was a prolific scorer throughout his career. He was a nine-time scoring champion. He also led the league in scoring in 2012-13.
The player was a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He won gold medals with the U.S. in 2008 and 2012.
Melo was a major force in the NBA for 19 seasons. He was a scoring champion, an All-Star, and an Olympic gold medalist. He will be remembered as one of the best scorers in NBA history.
In regards to him never winning a championship, Melo told Sports Illustrated announcement “I’m at peace.”
“That doesn’t bother me no more; that idea that you’re a loser if you don’t win a championship,” he said.
