Getty Carmelo Anthony retires as one of the greatest New York Knicks players.
Carmelo Anthony, one of the decorated scorers in NBA history, officially announced his retirement on Monday in a poignant video he shared on Twitter.
The 38-year-old Anthony leaves the NBA ninth on the all-time scoring list with 28,289 career points across 19 seasons with six different teams, most notably with the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks.
Anthony came to the Knicks via blockbuster trade in 2011, along with Chauncey Billups, to join Amare Stoudemire at a time when nobody wanted to come to save the floundering franchise.
Anthony led the Knicks to three consecutive playoff runs that peaked with in the 2012-13 season, in which he led the entire NBA in scoring and defeated the Boston Celtics in the opening round of the playoffs to deliver the franchise’s first postseason series win since 1999-00. He became the only second player in Knicks history to win the scoring title, joining NBA legend Bernard King.
The following season, Anthony produced one of the greatest single-game performances in Madison Square Garden history, pouring in 62 points against the Charlotte Bobcats, the most points scored in the iconic arena since 1968.
In six-plus seasons with the Knicks, he was named to the All-Star team six times and the All-NBA team twice cementing his status as one of the greatest Knicks players of all-time.
In 2017, he demanded to be traded due to differences with then-Knicks president Phil Jackson.
After seven-and-a-half years with the Knicks, Anthony was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder and bounced around the league with the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers in the waning years of his career.
Lots of thoughts on Melo officially hanging it up (and will share those in longer form soon), but for now, let there be no question that he’s one of the 5 greatest Knicks ever, and 100% should have his No. 7 retired by the franchise.
The 2023-24 home game vs Denver, perhaps?
Anthony was a 10-time NBA All-Star and a member of the league’s 75th Anniversary Team.
“I remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court. And the dream was something more. But basketball was my outlet. My purpose was strong, my communities, the cities I represented with pride and the fans that supported me along the way. I am forever grateful for those people in places because they made me Carmelo Anthony. But now the time has come for me to say goodbye to the court where I made my name, to the game that gave me purpose and pride, but this is a bittersweet goodbye to the NBA,” Anthony said in his retirement video.
Anthony also won three golds with Team USA. He finished his international playing career ranking second in scoring (336 points) and owns the U.S. Men’s Olympic single-game scoring record (37). Melo and Kevin Durant are the only U.S. Men’s National players with multiple 30-point games, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
NBA Community Reacts to Carmelo Anthony’s Retirement
Twitter was filled with an outpour of tribute to Anthony following the announcement of his retirement.
10x NBA All-Star, 6x All-NBA selection, 9th most points all-time and 75th Anniversary Team member…
Thank you, Carmelo! 👏
Congratulations, @carmeloanthony on an amazing career! 👏
Carmelo Anthony Passes the Torch
In his retirement video, Anthony said his legacy is his 15-year-old son, Kiyan Carmelo, a rising high school star in New York.
Last year, his son received an offer to play for Syracuse, where he forged his legend as a national champion in his lone collegiate season before entering the NBA.
Beyond blessed to receive an offer from Syracuse University! #GOORANGE🍊🍊
Anthony also had his passing-of-the-torch moment with the present Knicks team, particularly with Jalen Brunson, their current leader, when he attended Game 2 of the second-round series against the Miami Heat.
Once a Knick, always a Knick.
“That’s always good when you see a legend like that,” Brunson said of Anthony during his postgame interview. It was a special night the way the fans were. They kept cheering us on, and just to see all the guys who wore the Knicks jersey in the past come back, it’s always special. So it’s always really cool.”