Carmelo Anthony: Five Legends Who Won First Title After 30

New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is a 32-year-old small forward chasing his first NBA championship. Which legends won a title after the age of 30?

The New York Knicks are committing to a short-term vision that’s rarely proved gratifying for NBA organizations. The long-term vision is quite promising, but over the next two-to-three seasons, the Knicks will attempt to build around a franchise player who’s already 32 years of age.

Though Carmelo Anthony has won at every stage of his illustrious basketball career, the absence of an NBA championship has birthed an underlying sense of concern.

It’s rare that a player wins their first NBA championship on what’s often referred to as the wrong side of 30. It’s not entirely unheard of, but the general consensus is that a player who passes 30 has lost their chance to win a first title as the No. 1 option.

Fortunately for Anthony and the Knicks, there’s a precedent to players discovering their first taste of gold at an advanced NBA age.

Anthony is coming off of a season during which he averaged 21.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.5 3-point field goals made per game. His scoring dropped, but he set a career-high in assists per game and vastly improved his defensive consistency.

The question is: why should Knicks fans be optimistic about the team’s chances of winning with Anthony? The history of five legends doing the same suggests it’s plausible.

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