Carmelo Anthony's return to the NBA after a full year absence was largely seen as one last opportunity to play in the league after signing with the Portland Trail Blazers two weeks ago. Yet the perennial scorer wouldn't go as far as to call this 2019-20 season his swan song, hoping to play until his body won't let him.

“This ain’t a damn farewell tour,” Anthony told Shams Charania of The Athletic. “My love for the game don’t stop. I don’t know where this ‘farewell tour’ thing came from. I’ve never talked about a farewell tour. I know what I can do and I believe in myself. When a farewell tour comes, it comes. That’s not something I think about. I’m not thinking about retiring right now. I had during this past stretch over the summer.

“But ain’t no retiring in my mind. I believe in what I have left.”

Melo is unequivocally convinced about his own abilities, and if Monday's 25-point, eight-rebound vintage night is any indication — he's still got some gas left in the tank.

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Anthony was encouraged to take a reserve role with the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2017-18 season, but he refused to do so. He was eventually convinced to come off the bench during his 10-game stint with the Houston Rockets, but that experiment failed.

However, Melo is back into the starting lineup for a Blazers team that is in dire need of help, now 6-12 on the season and hoping to climb out of the Western Conference's cellar. He notes it's been tough to be away from the game for so long, but feels some sense of validation after proving he belongs.

“It’s been very validating returning to the floor,” said Anthony. “From the standpoint of to know the amount of talk being said about me, versus the amount of support that I had. I think the amount of support outweighs all the negativity and what was said. The frustrating part was someone coming up with a narrative, then everybody just piggybacking off of it.

“A narrative that nobody even knew what happened or what was going on. That was the frustrating part.”

If Melo can prove he's still a consistent points and boards guy, as well as a potential 3-point shooting weapon, there might be a way to extend his career past this season.