Among the big names selected to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend was former NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony. Even without any NBA championship rings, Anthony’s resume is as good as anyone else’s. One of the most gifted scorers the game has ever seen, Anthony delivered a powerful message during his Hall of Fame speech.
“To the game of basketball, you were my way out. But more than that, you were my way in. You let me tell my story without words. You let me cry through jumpers, shout through dunks, dream through wins. You gave a kid from the projects a passport to the world,” Anthony said. “You gave my pain purpose, you gave my past a future.”
“I never got an NBA ring, and some will always define me by that. But I know what I gave to this game and I know what this game gave back,” Anthony continued. “Legacy isn’t always made in championships. Sometimes it’s made in consistency and a refusal to quit. And showing up over and over again when no one is clapping. I played the game with fire, with passion, with love, with joy. I gave it everything I had every single night.”
Carmelo Anthony’s selection to the Hall of Fame comes three years after he last stepped foot on an NBA court during the 2021-22 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Anthony’s NBA career spanned 20 seasons.
A ten-time NBA All-Star selection, Anthony also garnered two All-NBA Second Team selections and four All-NBA Third Team selections. He was the NBA’s scoring leader in 2013, made the All-Rookie First Team in 2004 and was selected as a member of the league’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Anthony began his career with the Denver Nuggets, helping transform the franchise into a perennial playoff contender. He played eight and a half seasons for the Nuggets before being traded to his hometown New York Knicks. Anthony would play six full seasons with the Knicks before finishing his career playing for the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers and Lakers.
He is also one of the most decorated Olympics players having won three gold medals with Team USA.
Anthony holds NBA career averages of 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds. 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 44.7 percent shooting from the field, 35.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 81.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
