Flowers For Carmelo Anthony

Written by Shane Calliste

28,289 points, 10 All-Star Appearances, 3 Gold Medals, and 1 National Championship; later Carmelo Anthony has called it a career. His on-court impact will be felt for decades, his growing business portfolio should be studied by aspiring entrepreneurs, and his community initiatives should be admired by everyone.

Anthony’s business savvy and philanthropy wouldn’t be possible if he didn’t quickly establish himself as one of the best players in the league. From the moment he arrived in Denver in 2003, he changed the trajectory of the franchise. In the seven full seasons prior to Anthony’s arrival in Denver (not counting the 1998-1999 lockout-shortened season), the Nuggets had an average record of 26-56, never made the playoffs during that span, and never finished higher than 16th in the NBA in attendance.  In comparison, in the seven full seasons, Anthony played in Denver, the Nuggets had an average record of 48 and 34, made the playoffs all seven seasons, and they never finished lower than 17th in attendance. When you consider Anthony’s on-court impact (He averaged 24.8 Points, made All-NBA 4 times, and never missed the playoffs), his off-court impact on the Nuggets from a business perspective (they were among the leaders in Nationally Televised games yearly, and consistently in the middle to the top half of the league in attendance.)

Carmelo’s name should warrant inclusion alongside some of the greatest Nuggets ever. While many detractors would point to his trade request as a reason his jersey number shouldn’t be retired, it should be noted that one of the picks that the Knicks traded for Anthony turned out to be Jamal Murray, the 2nd best player on the 2023 Western Conference Champion Nuggets and if Anthony didn’t request a trade this current era of Nuggets basketball wouldn’t be possible. Despite some highs, some lows, and a nonamicable ending in 2011, you can’t tell the history of the Denver Nuggets without mentioning the Carmelo Anthony era. When Nikola Jokic’s number 15 is eventually up in the rafters at Ball Arena, Carmelo Anthony’s number 15 should be as well.

The case to get his jersey retired with the New York Knicks is a much more complicated one. On one hand, Anthony wanted to be a Knick when many of his peers didn’t want to be and took the challenge of trying to restore one of the NBA’s cornerstone franchises. However, on the other hand, in the five full seasons Anthony played with the Knicks (not counting the lockout-shortened 66-game season in 2011-2012), the Knicks only made the playoffs two times, winning only one playoff series and had an average record of 34-48.

Should Anthony be remembered as the hometown kid who attempted to restore his childhood team or as the player who forced a trade to a team that he could have waited until the offseason to sign with? Arguably, because of his trade request the Knicks were never able to give him a supporting cast good enough to compete consistently, I lean towards the latter. When Anthony made his Knicks debut on February 23rd, 2011, with “I’m Coming Home” by Sean “Diddy” Combs echoing through the Garden, the feeling was that the Knicks were heading back to the NBA mountaintop. A prodigal son had returned home on a mission to revive a once-proud franchise. Two playoff appearances (Knicks were already on pace to make the Playoffs in 2011 before the Anthony trade) in 6 seasons were not supposed to be what the Anthony era amounted to. The Knicks have had virtually the same amount of regular season and playoff success in the Julius Randle era as they did in the Anthony era. In the four seasons since Randle has been a Knick, they’ve made the playoffs twice (same as the Anthony era) and have advanced to the Conference Semifinals (as far as the Knicks went in the Anthony era). If Randle retired today, it is almost certain the consensus would be that he shouldn’t have his jersey retired by the Knicks. Anthony will forever be a staple in Knicks history because he was a native New Yorker who gave the Franchise hope. However, strictly on the court, he didn’t do enough to warrant his jersey getting retired.

Carmelo Anthony’s Off-Court Ventures/Efforts

Limiting Anthony’s legacy solely to his play on the court would be unfair. His business acumen and community pride should be praised as much as his scoring prowess was. Throughout the years, Melo’s business portfolio has gotten as deep as his offensive arsenal. Anthony has invested in the music industry and tech Industries, with major companies such as Lyft and SeatGeek garnering the most attention. Moreover in recent years, he’s started a wine company called The Seventh Estate and a fashion brand called StayMe7o. Anthony most recently expanded his entrepreneurial portfolio in February of 2023, when he partnered with George Barrios and Michelle Wilson to create Isos7 Growth Equity, a $750 million private equity fund.

He’s also proven to be as much a philanthropist as he is business savvy. One of Anthony’s first philanthropic endeavors was in 2005 with the launch of the Carmelo Anthony Foundation, and similar to his business ventures, his charitable efforts have only grown throughout the years. In 2006, he donated 3 million towards building a basketball practice facility at Syracuse University that is now named after him, and he created the Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center in Baltimore that same year. One of his most recent community initiatives came in 2020, when he started a social justice fund with close friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul, focusing on finding solutions to systemic issues plaguing the Black Community, such as the need for Criminal Justice Reform and much more. It’s fitting that one of the final accolades Anthony received in his NBA Career wasn’t for his on-the-court performance, but for his off-the-court efforts when he won the inaugural Kareem Abdul Jabbar Social Justice Award in 2021.

While Anthony was never able to capture that elusive championship on the court, his impact off the court was more significant than many “Champions.” In many ways, Carmelo Anthony’s on and off-the-court career personifies the evolution of modern basketball. He was one of the first players to popularize being a “One and Done” college player; he maximized his career earnings by making $266 million in contracts during his playing career and became one of the catalysts for the Player Empowerment Era with his 2010 trade Request, in addition to investing into various businesses, and most importantly invested into his community. Anthony is the “American Dream,” a member of a disenfranchised group who overcame poverty, achieved his dreams, became his own corporation, and always gave back to those in need. This is his legacy. Congratulations on a great career Carmelo Anthony; you built an everlasting legacy.