Basketball legend and future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony enjoyed a fantastic NBA career. Throughout his 19-year career, the Syracuse alum was a 10-time All-Star, a six-time All-NBA Team selection, a one-time scoring champion, and was the runner-up behind LeBron James for Rookie of the Year in 2003-04. Furthermore, he finished top 20 in MVP voting six times in his career. This includes finishing with the third-most votes during the 2012-13 season. Anthony played for numerous teams in his time in the NBA. However, perhaps his most well-known stint is his time with the New York Knicks.
From 2011 to 2017, Anthony was one of the NBA’s premier players as a member of the Knicks. Unfortunately, his time with the team came to a disappointing end. For the last four seasons of his career with the Knicks, the team failed to make the playoffs every year. This led to them trading Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder ahead of the 2017-18 season. However, Anthony recently revealed that he nearly re-joined the team in 2022.
In a recent episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast (YouTube link), Anthony spoke about nearly becoming a member of the Knicks again.
“My plan was playing out the way that I wrote it out: to come back to New York, finish it out in New York…my goal was to always make it back here to finish it out here.”
“They said, ‘Listen, here’s a spot. You can be on the team tomorrow but this is the spot. I said, ‘Nah, I can’t.’ The not knowing of when you’re gonna play or not play, I’d rather not go through that. I just had a hell of a year in LA.”
“That’s not the representation of New York Knicks Number 7 that we want people to remember.”
“You offering me the vet minimum just because. You’re not really looking at the value of the product, you’re looking at bottom line. I didn’t want to play that game.”
Carmelo Anthony Nearly Re-Joined the New York Knicks in 2022
Carmelo Anthony Retired From Basketball in 2022
Instead of joining the Knicks, the now 40-year-old retired in 2022. In his final season, Anthony played for the Los Angeles Lakers, appearing in 69 games for the team. Mostly coming off the bench, Anthony averaged 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1 assist per game. His last All-Star campaign was during the 2016-17 season with the Knicks, but Anthony was still a solid player afterward.
Anthony also played for the Thunder, the Houston Rockets, and the Portland Trail Blazers after his Knicks tenure. In that time, he averaged 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game.
While some may know Anthony for his time with the Knicks, many others remember him with the Denver Nuggets. Before the blockbuster trade that sent him to New York, Anthony was one of the biggest stars in the NBA in Denver. For parts of eight seasons, Anthony averaged 24.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals with the Nuggets.
The Last Word
Anthony joining the Knicks in 2022 certainly would have made headlines. However, it was clear that he was not the same player he was when he was originally with the team. It would have been fun, but Anthony not re-signing with the Knicks was probably the right call.
