Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony is a professional basketball player, born on May 29, 1984, in Brooklyn, New York. He faced significant challenges during his early life, growing up in the Red Hook Projects and later moving to Baltimore, Maryland, where he found solace in basketball. After a standout high school career, he attended Syracuse University, where he led the team to its first NCAA Championship in 2003, earning multiple accolades, including Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
Carmelo was selected third overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, where he quickly made his mark by leading the team to the playoffs in his rookie season. Over his career, he established himself as one of the league's premier scorers, averaging 22.5 points per game over nineteen seasons and earning ten All-Star selections. His career included stints with several teams, including the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers, before he announced his retirement in 2023.
In addition to his on-court success, Carmelo has contributed to various charitable initiatives and ventured into media and production, showcasing his commitment to community engagement beyond basketball. His journey reflects both personal resilience and significant contributions to the sport.
Carmelo Anthony
Basketball Player
- Born: May 29, 1984
- Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York
SPORT: Basketball
Early Life
Carmelo Kiyan Anthony was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 29, 1984. When Carmelo was young, his family lived in the Red Hook Projects in Brooklyn. Carmelo’s father was of Puerto Rican descent, and his mother was of African American descent. Carmelo’s father, after whom Carmelo was named, died of cancer when Carmelo was two years old. Carmelo’s family lived briefly in Friona, Texas, before moving to the Druid Hill section of Baltimore, Maryland, when Carmelo was eight years old. The housing projects near Carmelo’s home were rife with drug dealing and violence. Carmelo and his friends used sports, most often basketball, as a diversion from such activities.
As a teenager, Carmelo commuted to Towson Catholic High School for three years. During the summer after his sophomore year, he grew five inches, sprouting to 6 foot 5 inches. The following season, he was the Baltimore Catholic League’s player of the year as well as the Baltimore Sun’s metro player of the year. To gain more national exposure, Carmelo transferred to the famed Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. As a senior, he was a first-team all-American and a McDonald’s All-American.
The Road to Excellence
While many of Carmelo’s contemporaries were heading straight to professional basketball after high school, his mother pressed him to go to college. Carmelo accepted a basketball scholarship from Syracuse University and moved to the upstate New York campus in 2002. He had a short but historical stay at Syracuse. During the 2002-2003 season, Carmelo led the team in most offensive categories, including scoring and rebounding. More significantly, he guided Syracuse to a 30-5 record and the school’s first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Basketball Tournament Championship. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, the NCAA Freshman of the Year, the Big East Conference Freshman of the Year, and was an all-Big East first-team selection.
Soon after Carmelo helped Syracuse to the championship, he declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft. On June 26, 2003, he was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the third overall pick. In July 2003, Carmelo signed a four-year contract with the Nuggets that paid him more than $15 million, or $3.75 million per year.
In a stellar rookie season, Carmelo averaged twenty-one points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.18 steals per game while playing in all eighty-two games. He was the driving force behind the tremendous turnaround for the Denver Nuggets. He led the team to a 43-39 record and a berth in the NBA playoffs. Before Carmelo’s arrival, the Nuggets were consistently one of the worst teams in the NBA. In fact, the year before Carmelo arrived in Denver, the Nuggets record was 17-65, which earned the team a share of the worst record in the league. Interestingly, the tie was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who drafted LeBron James with the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Starting on draft day and continuing throughout their careers, James and Carmelo were linked in superstardom. In addition to his regular season statistics, Carmelo became the first rookie in fourteen years to lead a team in playoff scoring average. Though the Nuggets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, simply appearing in the playoffs was a testament to Carmelo’s impact.
The Emerging Champion
During the early part of his NBA career, Carmelo compiled impressive statistics. In the 2006-2007 season, he had a career-high average of 28.9 points per game. Though the Nuggets could not advance past the first round of the playoffs, Carmelo led the Nuggets to the postseason in each of his seven seasons with the team. Early in his career, he had some behavioral problems: He was suspended from the league for fifteen games for his involvement in a 2006 on-court brawl in Madison Square Garden in a game against the Knicks. However, as he matured, he left behind those problems.
Continuing the Story
Carmelo defined himself as one of the league’s most consistent scorers. In 2006, the Nuggets acquired Allen Iverson to help Carmelo lead the team deeper into the playoffs. In addition to his NBA experience, Carmelo played on several US national teams and was named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year in 2006. He was a member of the US teams that won gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. He played on the 2016 Olympic team as well. In February 2011, he was traded to the New York Knicks, signing a multiyear contract extension with the team in 2014. In 2017, Carmelo was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He played for the Thunder for one year before being traded to the Houston Rockets for one year and the Portland Trail Blazers for two years, from 2019 through 2021. Carmelo played his final season for the Los Angeles Lakers before announcing his retirement in 2023. He completed his nineteen-year career with game averages of 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. He appeared in ten All-Star Games. Outside of basketball, Carmelo participated in charitable activities, made media appearances, and had lucrative endorsement deals. He founded a club in the North American Soccer League and started a production company called Creative 7.
Summary
Carmelo Anthony rose from the Red Hook Projects in Brooklyn, New York, to lead the Syracuse University Orangemen to the 2003 NCAA national championship. In his first NBA season with the Denver Nuggets, he helped his team reach the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. He became one of the best scorers in the NBA and, along with LeBron James, a face of the next generation of basketball superstars.
Bibliography
Anthony, Carmelo, and Greg Brown. Carmelo Anthony: It’s Just the Beginning. Kirkland: Positively For Kids, 2004.
Buford, Jayson. “'I Am the American Dream:' Carmelo Anthony on Retirement and His Big ESPY Surprise.” Vanity Fair, 13 July 2023, www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/07/carmelo-anthony-retirement-espy. Accessed 9 June 2024.
“Carmelo Anthony - Denver Nuggets Small Forward.” StatMuse, www.statmuse.com/nba/player/carmelo-anthony-98. Accessed 9 June 2024.
Chappell, Kevin. “The Future of the NBA: Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James are Positioned as the Sturdy Foundation of the Expanding League.” Ebony, 1 May 2007.
Gitlin, Marty. Carmelo Anthony. New York: Bearport, 2015.
Porterfield, Jason. Basketball in the Big East Conference. New York: Rosen Central, 2008.