Carmelo Anthony announces NBA retirement after 19 playing seasons

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

One of the best scorers the National Basketball Association (NBA) has ever seen just called it a career.

Carmelo Anthony, a 10-time NBA All-Star and a huge piece to the USA Basketball team’s success, just announced that he will be hanging up his jersey after 19 playing seasons in the league.

Popularly known as ‘Melo’, the former No. 3 pick during the 2003 NBA Rookie Draft uploaded a short video of him confirming his retirement which drew mixed emotions from his fellow hoops stars and the whole basketball community.

“I remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court and a dream of something more. But basketball was my outlet,” Melo said.

Melo’s last stint in the NBA was when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers and was never re-signed by any team again following the 2022-2023 off-season.

A former franchise player of the Denver Nuggets where he first flaunted his huge offensive bag, Melo immediately made a name for himself after stunning the NBA hardwood with his unique scoring skill set.

Melo was once near to reaching an NBA Final series during the 2009 season but his Nuggets squad lost to the late Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers during the Western Conference finals.

After a series of playoff losses donning the Denver jersey, Melo decided to test the Eastern Conference after signing a big contract with the New York Knicks.

Once Melo arrived in New York, the glamour the team lost was quickly revived and he was able to make the squad contend for the championship again.

However, Melo’s dynasty with the Knicks would again be short-lived after failing to get out of the East when teams like the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and the Boston Celtics prevented them from advancing to the ultimate grand final stage.

Melo will be retiring as the league’s No. 9 All-Time scorer with 28,289 points and a six-time nominee in the All-NBA team selection.

“My purpose was strong, my communities, the cities I represented with pride and the fans that supported me along the way. I am forever grateful for those people and places because they made me Carmelo Anthony. But now the time has come for me to say goodbye. With this bittersweet goodbye to the NBA, I’m excited about what the future holds for me,” added Melo.