Former 10-time All-Star NBA combo forward Carmelo Anthony made sure to shout out the New York Knicks faithful during his Hall of Fame speech on Saturday.
The 6-foot-7 Syracuse product, who grew up a Knicks fan, actually enjoyed more individual and team success while with the Denver Nuggets.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame technically inducted Anthony and fellow first-ballot honoree Dwight Howard twice this weekend. Both former superstars were going in as individuals and as members of the 2008 U.S. men’s Olympic “Redeem Team,” who reclaimed the gold medal for the Americans after an infamous bronze finish in 2004.
Anthony: ‘Once a Knick, always a Knick’
Denver selected him with the No. 3 pick in a loaded 2003 NBA Draft, which also featured future Hall of Famers LeBron James (the No. 1 pick), Chris Bosh (No. 4), and Dwyane Wade (No. 5), plus future All-Stars Chris Kaman (No. 6), David West (No. 18) and Kyle Korver (No. 51).
From 2003-11, Anthony led the Nuggets to seven straight playoff appearances, including a run to the Western Conference Finals. Denver logged three 50-win-plus seasons at the end of that run.
Across parts of eight seasons, Anthony averaged 24.5 points on .459/.311/.803 shooting splits, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks per bout for the Nuggets. He finished among the top 15 in MVP voting four times, made four All-NBA and four All-Star teams.
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He actually had less success in New York. The club offloaded significant depth to acquire Anthony in a midseason trade circa 2011. New York made the playoffs in just Anthony’s first three seasons, and then proceeded to fall off the lottery cliff for his last four. He won a single playoff series, in 2013, with the Knicks.
And yet, Anthony is remembered with the kind of fondness Knicks fans generally reserve for ’70s or ’90s New York alums — players who led the team to multiple NBA Finals.
In part, that’s a credit to the fact that Anthony was one of the most electric scorers of his day, and just happened to be arriving in New York thick in the middle of his prime, rather than at the start of it. Knicks fans experienced his on-court regression, but Anthony’s individual effort rarely wavered.
“From the lights of Madison Square Garden to the heartbeat of every borough, I felt that energy…”
Melo shows love to the @nyknicks fans & organization! pic.twitter.com/0nsBCZAY0M
— NBA (@NBA) September 7, 2025
“To the New York Knicks and the city of New York — the Mecca of basketball — you gave me more than a jersey. You gave me an identity,” Anthony said in his Hall of Fame speech. “From the lights of Madison Square Garden to the heartbeat of every borough, I felt that energy. I carried it. I became it. New York is not for the faint of heart. It’s pressure. It’s expectation. But it’s also pride, power and poetry in motion. You showed me what it means to carry a city on your back with grace, with grit, and with love.”
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“To the fans, your passion never wavered. Even when things got tough, your fire lit up every corner of the Garden. Every chant, every roar, every boo, every moment, we felt it. I felt it. And to the Knicks organization, thank you for believing me, for trusting me to represent the city that never sleeps, that never folds, that never stops.”
With two-time All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson at the helm, the Knicks have reached heights not seen since before Anthony was even in the league. Just last season, New York finished with a 51-31 record and advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
For once, the future in New York is truly bright. And Anthony’s arrival in town helped the club return to respectability, after a miserable lost decade of dysfunction.
“I may have played around the league, but my soul will always echo 33rd and 7th,” Anthony said, in reference to Madison Square Garden’s cross streets, 33rd Street and 7th Avenue. “Once a Knick, always a Knick.”
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