Due to his wife, a significant OKC Thunder player has formally announced his retirement.
Due to his wife, a significant OKC Thunder player has formally announced his retirement.
Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA title in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA, announced his retirement on Monday.
Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, leaves as the No. 9 scorer in league history.
Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal scored more than Anthony — who finishes his career with 28,289 points.
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“Now the time has come for me to say good-bye … to the game that gave me purpose and pride,” Anthony said in a videotaped message announcing his choice — one he called “bittersweet.”
Anthony’s legacy has long been secure: He ends his playing days after being chosen as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, a 10-time All-Star, a past scoring champion and a six-time All-NBA selection.
And while he never got to the NBA playoffs — he only played in the conference playoffs once, with Denver against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 — Anthony also knew what it was like to be a champion.
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He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2003 Final Four when he led Syracuse to the national title, and he helped USA Basketball win Olympic gold three times — at Beijing in 2008, at London in 2012 and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Anthony has played in 31 games in four trips at the Olympics, the most of any U.S. men’s player ever. Anthony’s 37 points against Nigeria in the 2012 games is a USA Basketball men’s record at an Olympics, as are his 10 3-pointers from that game and his 13-for-13 showing from the foul line against Argentina in 2008.
“Carmelo Anthony is one of the NBA’s all-time great players and ambassadors,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “We congratulate him on a remarkable 19-year career and look forward to seeing him in the Hall of Fame.”
Anthony will stay part of international basketball for at least a few more months; Anthony is one of the ambassadors to the Basketball World Cup, FIBA’s biggest event, which will be held this summer in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
“I remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court and a dream of something more,” Anthony said. “But basketball was my outlet. My purpose was strong, my communities, the cities I represented with pride and the fans that backed me along the way. I am forever grateful for those people and places because they made me Carmelo Anthony.”
