Carmelo Anthony

Childhood

Carmelo Kyam Anthony was born on May 29, 1984, in Brooklyn, New York as the youngest of four children. He spent the majority of his childhood in Baltimore, Maryland during a period when the city was infested with drugs and crime (the area was nicknamed the Pharmacy during that time due to its high volume of drugs and crime.) Anthony's childhood in Baltimore was rough, as his father passed away from liver failure when he was two. His mother had to work around the clock as a housekeeper to support the family, but she made sure that her children stayed safe and focused on school. Anthony began to take basketball seriously after he was cut from his school team as a freshman. When he returned in his sophomore year, he had grown five inches and developed a new level of talent that made him a star in the local area. By his junior year, he had committed to play college basketball at Syracuse University, but he was forced to transfer from the Baltimore public school to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia in order for him to meet the academic requirements of Syracuse. He excelled at Oak Hill and became the highest ranked high school basketball player in the country before entering Syracuse in the fall of 2002.

College Career

Once at Syracuse, Anthony quickly adapted to the college game and blossomed into a star under Coach Jim Boeheim. During his one year at Syracuse, he averaged just over 22 points per game, to go along with 10 rebounds and 2 assists per game. He led Syracuse to their first National Championship, upsetting the heavily favored University of Kansas team 81-78. Anthony was named the NCAA tournaments Most Outstanding Player, and declared for the NBA Draft in the spring of 2003.

NBA Career

Anthony was drafted third overall by the Denver Nuggets in 2003, a part of a draft class that many consider to be one of the best in NBA history. Two of his longtime friends, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade, were also drafted in the same class. Anthony was named to the All Rookie team in his first season, after he averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game. Over the next couple of years, Anthony proved to be one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, earning his way onto 10 All Star teams and 6 All NBA teams. Anthony spent several years with the Denver Nuggets before being traded to the New York Knicks in the middle of the 2011 season. Anthony went on to lead the Knicks to one of their best seasons as a franchise, when they achieved a 54-28 record in the 2012-2013 season, the same season that Anthony was the leading scorer in the NBA. The glory was short lived in New York, as after the 2013 season the Knicks never achieved the same success that they have had. Anthony began to be criticized by some for not being able to lead his teams to the "big moment" victories and not being able to win in the playoffs. Others in the NBA community also blame Anthony's play style, heavily oriented around isolation basketball, for his lack of success in the playoffs (Isolation basketball is when one person is left alone on one side of the floor in a one on one situation with their defender. It is criticized due to the lack of passing and movement/involvement of the other players on offense).

This criticism lead to Anthony being shipped from team to team, trying to find a new home in the NBA community and to achieve the same success he has had in the past. In 2017 he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he played one season before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks. He was released by the Hawks and signed by the Houston Rockets, where he played only 10 games before being traded to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls released Anthony in January of 2019, and he remained unsigned until very recently, when the Portland Trail Blazers signed him to a one year contract in November of 2019.

Olympic Career

Anthony was a key member of four USA Olympic basketball teams, participating in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. He helped the team achieve 1 bronze medal in 2004 and 3 gold medals in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Anthony is the only Olympic player in history to have won 3 gold medals. He always excels during the Olympics as a "zone buster", someone who can destroy a 2-3 or 3-2 zone with superb outside shooting. The Olympic rules allow for defenses to play zone, which is when the man guards an area on the floor, not an actual player. The three point line is also several feet shorter than the NBA three point line. With good ball movement and good shooters placed in the right spots around the perimeter, a zone can easily be beaten. He holds the record for most points scored in an Olympic contest with 37, scored in only 14 minutes of playtime. As of the end of the 2016 games, he was US Olympic men's team leader in points, rebounds, and games played.