Carmelo Anthony Bids Farewell
Carmelo Anthony has decided to call it a career. Taking to his Instagram, the 10-time All-Star announced his retirement while calling it a “bittersweet goodbye.” This breaking NBA news comes after a season where no teams decided to sign him and he had the year off. Anthony turns 39 next week so it was clearly time for him to officially step away from the game.
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Anthony went through many different phases of his career. He established himself as a superstar with the Denver Nuggets, then went to the New York Knicks where he didn’t have as much success as he would’ve hoped. He then became a role player against his will on the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, and Portland Trail Blazers.
A Legacy Defined by Greatness and The Fight For A Ring
To Anthony’s credit, he did eventually learn to leave his ego at the door. He reinvented himself with the Trail Blazers and was actually productive for the team. The one thing that always eluded the star forward, was a championship.
He joined the Los Angeles Lakers last season in hopes to win a championship before he retired but things didn’t go according to plan. He was solid for the purple and gold but the team was a mess and missed the playoffs.
WATCH: Carmelo Anthony announces his retirement from the NBA.https://t.co/HVQklIjRVN pic.twitter.com/hz4qebgdqu
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) May 22, 2023
Despite his close friendship with LeBron James, according to NBA rumors the Lakers decided against bringing Anthony this season. No other teams came knocking and the writing was on the wall.
This is the right time for Anthony to hang up his sneakers. He leaves the NBA as one of the greatest scorers in league history.
His 28,289 career points scored are ninth all-time. And had he been able to play this season, he may have had a chance to surpass Shaquille O’Neal’s 28,596 career points for eighth all-time.
Regardless, he has cemented himself as one of the greatest basketball players of all time and was named part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Anthony didn’t have much postseason success and never made it to the NBA Finals but he did win an NCAA championship at Syracuse, which is something most NBA superstars can’t say they pulled off.
MELO = Carmelo Anthony
Don’t get it twisted pic.twitter.com/JQHV4sOIIe
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) May 22, 2023
Challenges of Timing
Anthony was selected in the same draft that LeBron was and has often been overshadowed by him. However, the two have become close friends over the years. Though he was never at the level of LeBron, he had some standout moments. His lack of playoff success in the NBA shouldn’t overshadow what he did for the national team.
He was a key member of three gold medal-winning squads. He was part of the 2008 “Redeem Team,” which is considered one of the greatest collections of basketball talent to ever be on a single team.
Perhaps Anthony’s most impressive feat in the NBA was winning the scoring title in 2013. He beat out legendary players like Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and LeBron. Anthony was never a complete player on both sides of the floor but was a dominant scorer when he was hot. If it weren’t for Kobe, Anthony may have a championship under his belt.
His biggest issue is that he played in the Western Conference when Kobe had it locked down and then went to the Eastern Conference when LeBron had it locked down. In another era, the conversation around Anthony may be very different. Though he never reached the NBA’s biggest stage, nobody can deny that he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
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