Carmelo Anthony, one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, officially announced his retirement from the league Monday.
He played 19 seasons in the NBA — notably for the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks — and made 10 All-Star teams, six All-NBA first-teams and won three gold and one bronze Olympic medals. Anthony also landed on the NBA’s all-time 75th anniversary team and ranks ninth all-time in points scored.
Anthony’s legendary basketball career began in college when he won the NCAA national championship during his freshman year at Syracuse in 2003. The Nuggets drafted Anthony third overall and he immediately burst onto the NBA scene, scoring 21 points per game in his rookie year. Anthony lost the Rookie of the Year battle with LeBron James that year.
Anthony led the Nuggets to the playoffs every season he played in Denver from 2003-2010. He averaged 24.8 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game during those seven seasons with four All-Star nods. Denver reached the Western Conference Finals in 2009 behind Anthony’s 27.2 points per game but fell to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.
A rift reportedly emerged between Anthony and the Nuggets during the 2010-11 season after Denver lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Utah Jazz in the previous season. Anthony reportedly requested a trade after he refused to sign a contract extension. Denver eventually obliged and traded Anthony to his hometown Knicks — Anthony was born in Brooklyn before he moved to Baltimore when he was 8 years old — in a massive three-team, 13-player trade that included the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Knicks sent Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, a future first-round pick, two future second-round picks and cash to the Nuggets as well as Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph and cash to the Timberwolves. New York acquired Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Renaldo Balkman, Shelden Williams and Anthony Carter from Denver and Corey Brewer from Minnesota.
During his time in New York, Anthony made seven All-Star teams and averaged 24.7 points per game. The Knicks made the playoffs in the first three years of Anthony’s tenure but only won one playoff series. He eventually asked for a trade during the 2017 offseason after conflicts with then-team president Phil Jackson. The Knicks traded Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick.
The next five years of Anthony’s career included stints on four different teams. He spent just one season with the Thunder before he was traded to the Houston Rockets. Two years later, Anthony was traded to the Chicago Bulls but was waived and signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. After two years in Portland, Anthony signed with the Los Angeles Lakers to team up with LeBron James in 2021. He passed Moses Malone for ninth on the league’s all-time scoring list and became the ninth player to score 28,000 career points.
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