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Earlier this week, Carmelo Anthony revealed his time in the NBA had officially come to an end when he announced he’d decided to retire after 18 seasons in the league.
The man known as “Melo” burst onto the scene during a one-and-done campaign at Syracuse where he led the Orange to a national championship before declaring for the 2003 NBA Draft after Jim Boeheim essentially told him he shouldn’t waste any more time at the college level.
The Brooklyn native was selected by the Nuggets with the third overall pick to kick off a career where he’d be selected to the All-Star Team on 10 occasions. He’d also rack up three gold medals while representing Team USA at the Summer Olympics with the help of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade (who were also drafted in the top five in 2003).
Anthony ultimately played with six different NBA teams, and while he experienced plenty of personal success, he was unable to secure a championship before deciding it was time to move on to the next chapter of his life as he approached his 39th birthday.
Based on everything else he achieved, it’s hard to imagine he won’t be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame when everything is said and done, although anyone who disagrees with that notion would likely point to his inability to win a ring as a pro as a reason he doesn’t deserve to be immortalized in Springfield.
However, Anthony doesn’t seem particularly bothered by that gap in his résumé based on what he had to say about the matter during a recent discussion with Sports Illustrated where he asserted everything that transpired after he entered the league was just icing on the cake:
“I’m at peace. That doesn’t bother me no more; that idea that you’re a loser if you don’t win a championship
For me, I’ve won. I won back in 2003, the night I shook David Stern’s hand on that [draft] stage. I made it out of Red Hook. I’ve won at life.
The ring is the only thing I didn’t get. It would’ve been a great accomplishment, but I don’t regret it, because I feel like I did everything I could to get it.”
Good for him.