Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony has made it known he dreams of seeing his No.7 jersey retired by the New York Knicks, and he reiterated that after Wednesday's loss to the ‘Bockers in Madison Square Garden.
Speaking to reporters following their 117-93 defeat to his former team, Anthony admitted that he glanced at the MSG rafters during the national anthem and imagined his jersey along with the other franchise greats.
Melo says he glanced up at the rafters to envision his number being retired at Madison Square Garden 🥺 pic.twitter.com/w5woYU9gSJ
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 2, 2020
Before taking on his former team, Melo already said that he is hopeful he would see his jersey on the rafters one day. Only eight players got their jerseys retired by the franchise, the most popular of whom are Patrick Ewing and Waltz Frazier.
The other New York legends immortalized in MSG are Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett, Dick McGuire and Dave DeBusschere.
Anthony, for his part, played seven seasons with the Knicks from 2011 to 2017 after demanding for a trade from the Denver Nuggets in the 2010-11 season. He featured in 412 regular season games for the franchise, averaging 24.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting 44.3 percent from the field.
Melo enjoyed the most successful time of his career donning the orange and blue. He was named to the All-Star team throughout his time in the Big Apple and even won the scoring title once in 2013 after putting up 28.7 points per game on an efficient 44.9 percent shooting clip.
Unfortunately, while Anthony collected individual accolades under the bright lights of New York, the team saw relative success during his time. The Knicks only made the playoffs three times (2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13) with Anthony leading the way.
Carmelo Anthony is heralded as one of the best scorers of his generation, but his lack of team success greatly affects his legacy. However, there is no doubt that he helped bring the Knicks back to relevance — even for just a brief period.
Follow Us
Subscribe