Carmelo Anthony, a ten-time NBA All-Star, announced on Monday that he was officially calling it quits in basketball after a two-decade professional career.
In a video montage of his career that he released on his Instagram account, Anthony, 38, who played his final NBA game for the Los Angeles Lakers in April 2022, announced his decision.
“I remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court and a dream with something more,” Anthony said in the video.
“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.
“I am forever grateful for those people and places because they made me, Carmelo Anthony.
“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 leaves the game as one of the game’s top scorers in history after being selected with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draught.
He scored 28,289 points in the NBA over the course of 20 seasons, averaging 22.5 points per game, along with 7,808 rebounds and 3,422 assists.
He began his professional career with the Denver Nuggets before making the move to the New York Knicks in 2010. There, he played for seven years before having stops with the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Los Angeles Lakers.
In addition to a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Games, he earned three consecutive gold medals at the international level when competing for the US Olympic squad in 2008, 2012, and 2016.
