Former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony opened up about his most difficult time as a professional basketball player.
Carmelo Anthony has had plenty of ups and downs over his illustrious NBA career. His time with the New York Knicks was certainly marked with high points and low points, leading to his departure in a trade that sent him to Oklahoma City in 2017.
On a recent appearance on Uninterrupted, the 10-time All Star offered an inside account of his feelings over the four years that covered his final season in New York to his time searching for a place to play before signing with Portland in 2019.
Anthony was an All-Star, averaging 22.4 points per game, in his final campaign with the Knicks. Within two seasons, he was somehow out of the NBA, a shocking turn of events that took at toll on him, emotionally.
"“I don’t think nobody will understand what I went through emotionally to get through and to be where I’m at today,” Anthony said on The Uninterrupted After Party recap of ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary. “I’m talking about doubting myself. I’m talking about mentally wanting to give up.”"
Talking with a glass of wine in his hand, Anthony was very candid in his conversation with producer Paul Rivera, business executive Maverick Carter and WNBA star Sue Bird, all of whom he seems to consider close friends.
In talking about his final season with New York, Melo summed it up as “dealing with everything I was dealing with, off the court, organizational structure, just everything I was dealing with in New York.”
He then talked about a crazy four-year sequence that saw him go from being a star player in New York to hitting rock bottom.
"“Getting traded the day before media day to OKC. Going to OKC, actually really liking it, didn’t work out for whatever reason, to going to Houston the following year to playing nine games. The first time I’ve ever come off the bench in 15 years. Ever. So that was an adjustment for me. Leading to having a year off,” Anthony said."
Anthony summed up the emotional time as a “highlight chapter” in the story of his life, now that he has come through the other side.
“I hit rock bottom emotionally and I had to build myself back up, basically by myself, to get here, where I’m at today,” Anthony said.
The Syracuse alum came to the Knicks in a shotgun deal orchestrated over the All-Star break in February 2011. Set to become a free agent a few months later, as Knicks fans know the story well, James Dolan pressured the team to add extra assets to a trade package with Denver to make sure the elite scorer found his way to the Knicks sooner rather than later. With the CBA expected to be modified over the summer, Anthony also had an incentive to force a trade so he could sign an extension.
Anthony had success with the Knicks in his seven seasons with the team, winning the scoring title in 2012-13, and leading them to the playoffs for the first time in six seasons in 2011.
After Phil Jackson took over as team president, his motivational tactics that worked with legendary players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, didn’t translate as well from the executive office high above the playing court. His relationship with Anthony soured, eventually leading to both of their departures from New York.