Carmelo Anthony announced his retirement from the NBA on Monday after 19 years in the league. After a career with the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers, the 10-time NBA All-Star will go down as one of the best scorers of his era.
At Syracuse, Melo helped deliver the school’s only college basketball national title and was the Most Outstanding Player in the 2003 NCAA tournament.
In the NBA, he won the 2013 scoring title and was part of the league’s 75th anniversary team. Though he never won a championship in the NBA, Anthony is arguably the greatest player in Team USA men’s Olympic basketball history. He won four Olympic medals, three of them gold, and owns the United States’ single-game Olympic scoring record (37). According to ESPN Stats & Information, Anthony and Kevin Durant are the only players with multiple 30-point games for the national team.
After the announcement, the NBA and some of Anthony’s former teams saluted him on his career.
10x NBA All-Star, 6x All-NBA selection, 9th most points all-time and 75th Anniversary Team member…
Thank you, Carmelo! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Z3uRXCB5Xh
— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2023
Congratulations, @carmeloanthony on an amazing career! 👏#STAYME7O pic.twitter.com/Z3GYLOE0dc
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 22, 2023
Legend. 🍊🏆
Congrats to @carmeloanthony and thank you for the memories. We all look forward to seeing what’s next. @Jumpman23 #StayMe7o #CuseFamily pic.twitter.com/3D4rsZPuUR
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) May 22, 2023
One “former” team tweeting its congratulations was the Atlanta Hawks, whom Anthony never played for.
Hell of a career. Congrats, @carmeloanthony 🫡 https://t.co/XawYrkxHAU pic.twitter.com/QbuwL4dwRp
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) May 22, 2023
In 2018, Oklahoma City traded Anthony and a first-round pick for Dennis Schroder. Before Melo ever suited up in Atlanta, the Hawks reached a buyout agreement on his contract that made him a free agent. Melo would then sign with the Rockets. Atlanta made him a team jersey anyway. Anthony wanted it for his personal collection.