Carmelo Anthony announces retirement

Carmelo Anthony playing for the Lakers
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Carmelo Anthony has confirmed his retirement from basketball after a 20-year career in the NBA.

A 10-time NBA All-Star, the 38-year-old was one of the most prolific scorers in basketball history.

Anthony played his last game for the Los Angeles Lakers in April 2022 and announced his decision in a video montage on his Instagram account.

“I remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court and a dream with something more,” he said.

“But basketball was my outlet. My purpose was strong. My communities, the cities I represented with pride and the fans that supported me along the way.”

Denver Nuggets selected Anthony with the third overall pick of the 2003 draft and traded him to the New York Knicks in February 2011.

He joined the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017 before ending his career with spells at the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers.

Over the course of 20 seasons in the NBA, he amassed 28,289 points at an average of 22.5 points per game, putting him ninth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Anthony also won three straight gold medals as a member of the US Olympic team in 2008, 2012 and 2016, plus a bronze in 2004.

“I am forever grateful for those people and places because they made me,” he added.

“But now the time has come for me to say goodbye: to the court where I made my name, to the game that gave me purpose and pride.”

Anthony was a three-time gold medal winner for Team USA in the Olympics and led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA national championship in his lone college basketball season. He was drafted third overall by the Nuggets.

-BBC