Earlier this month, Carmelo Anthony was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. But is he on the cusp of getting an additional honor?
On Wednesday, a question was asked about the possibility of Anthony getting his jersey retired by the Knicks, per Ian Begley of SNY.TV.
The question “Do you think Melo’s number will get retired by the Knicks?” was posed by a fan @NyCitee on X.
“I can’t tell you that I know with 100 percent certainty that the Knicks will retire Carmelo Anthony’s number,” Begley said.
“When Anthony retired, I know there was strong support internally within MSG to retire Anthony’s number. In checking around about this over the past couple of weeks, I can say that there remains strong support internally for retiring the number.
Later on, Begley said that it is not officially in the cards as of yet. Ultimately, it will be up to Knicks owner James Dolan.
“Again, I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that the Knicks will retire his number,” he said. “But the internal discussions about the topic have continued in recent weeks. The decision to retire — or not retire — Anthony’s number will ultimately be made by owner James Dolan.”
From 2011-2017, Anthony played with the Knicks. Altogether, he averaged 24.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.
During that stretch, he helped elevate the Knicks organization. He joined the likes of J.R. Smith, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Iman Shumpert.
The Knicks made three playoff appearances. In 2011, they lost in the first round to the Boston Celtics. The following year, they lost in the first round to the Miami Heat. Then in the next season, the Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
At one point, Anthony said he would have retired had the Knicks won.
The Knicks players who have their jerseys retired
If Anthony were to a have his jersey retired, he would join some of the greats of the game who played at Madison Square Garden.
So far, the Knicks have ten players whose number is hoisted to the rafters at the World's Most Famous Arena. They are Walt Frazier (#10), Earl Monroe (#15), Willis Reed (#19), Dave DeBusschere (#22), Bill Bradley (#24), and Patrick Ewing (#33), and Dick Barnett (#12).
Former coach Red Holzman has the #613 retired, based on the number of wins as Knicks coach.
