Carmelo Anthony is watching his 2003 NBA Draft mate LeBron James make history every time he steps onto the court given the miles on his body already. With his son Kiyan getting closer to NBA Draft eligibility, Anthony opened up on his podcast ‘7PM in Brooklyn with Kid Mero’ about returning to the NBA after his retirement in 2023.
“I don’t get the itch going to games, though. If I’m in the gym, training, I’ll get the itch. The process of getting ready for a professional game is so strenuous. If I was to come back, where are you gonna put me at? You ain’t gonna put me in the first ten of the rotation. I’m busy; I still work with my son, and I’m still active. I just don’t have to think about tapping into that realm of preparation.”
No NBA team would consider Anthony to be a part of their 10-man rotation at this stage, with the 40-year-old forward already retiring from the NBA as a rotational option with the Trail Blazers and Lakers.
Anthony’s career didn’t end up the way he wanted it to, failing to win a title and spending years trying to fight for his place in the league. Despite that, he’s regarded as one of the best scorers of his generation, averaging 22.5 points and 6.2 rebounds over his career.
He’s 10th on the all-time scoring list as well but is haunted by never having made an NBA Finals appearance.
Carmelo Anthony Could’ve Joined The Knicks In 2022
Anthony doesn’t need to return to the NBA grind just to warm a bench seat for 82 games instead of being with his family. He’s one of the most successful NBA players of his generation, so he definitely isn’t chasing the money a minimum contract or an additional year in the NBA would bring him.
Carmelo could’ve retired at the end of the 2022-23 season instead of bowing out a year earlier if he accepted a homecoming offer from the New York Knicks, but chose to pass on it because the team didn’t guarantee him playing minutes.
“You know what my plan is playing out the way that I wrote it out right? To come back to New York, finish it out in New York. Have my year, it’s a good team, you know I still can play ball, I still can help the team out like it was just like the vision I had like damn you know my goal was to always make to finish it out here anyway. So that was my plan.”
“They had a spot on the roster and respectfully, the powers that be, we sat down and had a real conversation. Listen, here’s a spot. You can be on a team tomorrow, but this is the spot. So no, no, I can’t do not knowing of when you’re going to play and not play. And I’d rather not go through that. Right. I’m a bow out gracefully. “
Anthony playing alongside Jalen Brunson in his first season on the franchise would’ve been a passing of the torch moment, especially if the season was also a quasi-retirement tour year for Anthony. We didn’t get that moment, primarily because Anthony has the self-respect to know he should quit when he did otherwise he’d be hanging onto NBA rosters until they rejected him.
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