Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony on Monday revealed that he nearly returned to the New York Knicks before his retirement from the league.
Answering fans in a mailbag segment during an episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn With Carmelo Anthony & The Kid Mero podcast that was released Monday, Anthony shared that he had planned to return to New York after becoming a free agent following the 2021-22 season, which he spent with the Los Angeles Lakers.
"I finished the season in LA," Anthony said. "So that summer ... Like I already knew I wasn't going back to LA ... It was an energy, it was a vibe. It wasn't a bad vibe but it just wasn't a vibe like, we having that conversation to figure out something else."
"You just knew that they were going in a different direction, cool. So at that point, I'm like ... my plan is playing out the way that I wrote it out. To come back to New York, finish it out in New York, have my year. Play. If it's a good team, I still can play ball, still can help the team out."
“My goal was always to make it back.”
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After a productive year in the Lakers rotation, Melo hoped to run it back in NY — but the fit wasn’t there.
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Anthony, the No. 3 pick in the 2003 NBA draft, became one of the league's premier scorers during his first eight seasons with the Denver Nuggets. The Syracuse product was dealt to the Knicks in February of 2011 and became an even bigger star in the Big Apple, helping New York return to the postseason that year for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
Anthony then spent the final five seasons of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and the Lakers before announcing his retirement in May of 2023.
Anthony had said it was ultimately always his plan to return to the Knicks, where he spent seven seasons, adding that he had even moved into a house in Westchester County, Ny. in the summer of 2022. But according to Anthony, he and the Knicks were not on the same page about his potential role with the team.
"They had a spot on the roster that respectfully- the powers that be ... We sat down, had a real conversation. 'Listen, here's a spot. You could be on the team tomorrow. But this is the spot.' I said, 'Nah. Nah. I can't.' "
"The not knowing of when you going to play and not play, I'd rather not go through that. I'm gonna bow out gracefully. I just had a helluva year in LA in my role, like basketball ain't the issue. I can't do that. That's a helluva decline when I look at it overall."
Anthony explained that the lack of clarity he received from Knicks' brass about playing time, and the feeling that the organization's heart truly wasn't in the offer, contributed to the potential reunion falling through.
Anthony made 10 All-Star teams, won a scoring title and scored 28,289 points, 10th on the league's all-time list, in his 19-year NBA career. He also won three Olympic gold medals with USA Basketball.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Carmelo Anthony Reveals He Almost Returned to Knicks Before Retirement.
