Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony is an American former professional basketball player whose 19-season NBA career produced one of the 21st-century American basketball-scoring careers — including 28,289 career points (the 9th-most in NBA history at the time of his retirement). He was born Carmelo Kyam Anthony on May 29, 1984, in Brooklyn, New York City. His Puerto-Rican-American father Carmelo Iriarte died of cancer when Anthony was two, and the family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland during his childhood.

His college basketball career was shaped by his single 2002–2003 season at Syracuse University — during which he led the Syracuse Orange to the 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship as a freshman. The Syracuse 2003 championship win — defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 81–78 in the April 7, 2003 final — was the only NCAA championship in Syracuse program history (until then). Anthony was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

He was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 3rd overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft (alongside LeBron James #1, Dwyane Wade #5, and Chris Bosh #4 — making the 2003 NBA Draft the Class of 2003 generation). His Denver Nuggets career (2003–2011) produced six All-Star Game selections and the 2007 NBA scoring title. The February 2011 trade to the New York Knicks — during which Anthony was the centerpiece of a six-team blockbuster trade — shaped his mid-career.

His Knicks period (2011–2017) and his subsequent stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Los Angeles Lakers extended his NBA career through the 2021–2022 season. He retired from the NBA in May 2023. He won three Olympic gold medals as a member of the US national team (2008, 2012, 2016) — making him the most-decorated American Olympic basketball player by gold-medal count. He has been continuously visible since retirement through the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast (with former NBA player The Kid Mero).

His name Carmelo is the Italian and Spanish form of Carmel (from the Hebrew Karmel meaning "vineyard" or "fruitful orchard" — referring to Mount Carmel). Carmelo has been continuously climbing in American naming since the 2000s.