There were many moments this month that caused a stir inside Madison Square Garden when the Knicks faced the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That’s when Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to trigger a timeout for the Heat, and when RJ Barrett sank three RBIs in five innings, all-white Knicks fans in the Garden went wild.
But the biggest stir of the night came during a break in play when a large video screen showed Carmelo Anthony sitting courtside. Anthony stood with one hand held up as most of the fans gave him a standing ovation, applauding and cheering as if he had scored the game-winning shot.
Anthony has never won a title in his six-and-a-half seasons with the Knicks and failed to reach the conference finals, but the moment was a reminder of how big he still is for New York. After years of mediocre days, the city is desperate for a star player and has landed one in Brooklyn native Anthony, who is ready to make the Knicks’ game exciting again.
When Anthony announced his retirement on Monday, many fans began to wonder when the Knicks would retire the No. 7 jersey he wore while playing for the team.
“New York is the kind of place that melts the unprepared,” said rapper Chuck D., who grew up on Long Island and co-founded the rap group Public Enemy. “But Melo came along and danced to the pressure of New York.”
He added, “Most New York baseball players aren’t from New York. So he brought the New York state of mind to a place where no ball player really knows how to adapt to it. So we I will continue to love Melo for that reason.”
The Denver Nuggets drafted Anthony 3rd overall out of Syracuse in 2003 after leading the school to the NCAA Division I National Championship. In Denver, Anthony quickly established himself as one of the best players in the league.
At 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 240 pounds, Anthony was known for his three-point shooting prowess and deft footwork. On the offensive side, he moved at the high and low posts, outsmarting smaller guards and forwards, and had the speed to overwhelm defenders.
But all of Anthony’s offensive success didn’t do much for the Nuggets in the postseason. Anthony’s team has only made the conference finals once in seven and a half seasons, and in 2011, he pressured the Nuggets to trade Anthony to New York, a deal that gutted the Knicks’ roster. Nuggets fans never forgot Anthony’s departure, booing him whenever he visited Denver.
“I gave it my all here,” Anthony said at the post-match press conference. 2021 got booed. “I never said anything bad about Denver. It will continue to exist,” he added.
The front office didn’t seem to forget Anthony’s departure either. Anthony was one of the greatest players in Nuggets history, and the number 15 he wore seemed destined for his retirement. But in 2014, the Nuggets gave Anthony’s jersey number to a lesser-known second-round pick, whose selection was revealed during Taco Bell commercials during ESPN’s draft coverage.
That player, Nikola Jokic, has gone on to become one of the best players in the NBA, already outperforming Anthony in a Nuggets uniform and winning the Most Valuable Player award twice. On Monday, Jokic led the Nuggets to their first NBA Finals.
‘Hopefully they can retire both jerseys,’ said Nuggets forward Jeff Green. told ESPN. “Nicola and Carmelo, I know it can be done and it deserves what he has done for the franchise.”
Anthony’s greatest chance to retire from the jersey most likely lies in New York.
For many fans in the city, especially black and Latino fans, Anthony felt like their reflection on the court. Anthony, who is African-American and Puerto Rican, was drawn to his style by his signature cornrow braids (although he didn’t have one in New York), tattoos covering his arms, and hip-hop music. love for
Anthony was everywhere, even outside of basketball. He attended and still does at everything from high school basketball games to hip-hop events. one year ago, he was in the audience in the garden A musical battle ensued between rap group The Rocks and Dipsett, who rapped the lyrics word for word.
In November 2005, Anthony called out: Hot 97’s Angie Martinez radio showwhere Rocks is ranting about a contract dispute with Diddy in what appeared to be an attempt to help reconcile.
“What can he do to help?” Martinez asked of Anthony.
“Have you seen his contract?” rapper Jadakiss replied.
“I’ve been in Oklahoma City forever,” Anthony said. “We’re about to go to the game. They said you were on the radio, so I had to call.”
Anthony’s phone call has become a legend in New York City radio, but it was also a moment that reflected who he had been all along.
“Culturally, he means everything,” said Charlamagne Ta God, host of the radio show The Breakfast Club. He remembers Anthony calling Martinez’s show and being one of the friendliest stars.
“That particular moment sticks out when you talk about culture,” he said, “that’s the moment you see the intersection of hip-hop and basketball, and there are so many people who represent that intersection.” Because I don’t think it’s better than Carmelo Anthony. ”
One of the strangest parts of the romance between New York fans and Anthony was that his approach to basketball was very different from what the great Knicks teams were known for.
At its best, the Knicks were a physical team with aggressive guards and defenders who wore down opponents with heavy fouls when attacking the basket. Players like Charles Oakley and John Starks became fan favorites for how they embraced the playstyle of bullies and villains.
But Anthony was not that type. He was notoriously uninterested in guarding players most of the time. In attack, he scored often, but was something of a black hole. He wouldn’t pass the ball when it came to him.
Anthony holds the all-time scoring record for the Knicks, scoring 62 points against the Charlotte Bobcats in 2014. It’s also the third-most scoring without an assist in NBA history.
“Yes, he was selfish at times. And you know, he was a ball stopper,” said Casey Powell, known as the founder of CP The Fanchise. knicks fan tv. “But he was a bucket, dude.”
He said Anthony didn’t have a lot of options to pass to players on the Knicks’ team, and that players like Starks and Oakley were loved because they played hard. It was his actual talent.” Knicks fans haven’t had a player as talented as Anthony since 1994, when Patrick Ewing led the team to the Finals, he said.
“The team didn’t win much when he was here, but he inspired a lot of kids, a lot of African American kids, a lot of Latino kids. gave us hope,” Powell said. “So sometimes the talk around Melo is how he didn’t win, that he’s a selfish player, but he has other things on the court. Outside, he put in a great performance.”
