Carmelo Anthony is at the point of his career where he’s almost forced to reflect. He has to look back on previous successes, failures, and what could have been’s, as all players do when the enter the twilight of their career — even if he is insistent he doesn’t want this season to be his last.
One part of his career he can never look past is his time with the Knicks. After orchestrating a trade to New York from Denver, Anthony was supposed to be the savior of the Knicks. The superstar that would deliver the downtrodden franchise back to its championship routes. The most he was able to accomplish was a single trip to the second round of the playoffs, albeit that was quite the accomplishment given it was the Knicks’ first trip past the opening round since 2000.
Despite the lack of significant or sustained success, Anthony is beloved by many in New York for what he did bring to the franchise. Competitiveness, hope, and a charm that has made him a favorite among many inside the organization. Anthony could be difficult to work with on a basketball level, but no one has ever spoken ill of his personality. He’s one of the most likable people in the NBA. Is being beloved on a personal level enough to possibly have his jersey hanging in the rafters of Madison Square Garden someday? Anthony says he envisions it.
Melo says he glanced up at the rafters to envision his number being retired at Madison Square Garden 🥺 pic.twitter.com/w5woYU9gSJ
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 2, 2020
“I did glance up at the rafters a little bit today (during) the National Anthem. They say you gotta envision so I was envisioning seeing it hanging up there.”
It’s not the first time Anthony has brought up his hope of seeing his jersey retired by the Knicks, even if the case for retiring his jersey isn’t especially strong. The team didn’t do much with him and individually he was more known for scoring than anything else, and on the Knicks all-time list he’s seventh in scoring. He didn’t have the dominance of a LeBron James or Kevin Durant, but it’s important to remember that jersey retirements are deeper than team and individual accomplishments. At the end of the day it’s up to the team and if enough people in the Knicks organization decide they want to honor Anthony someday then they can do it.
Of all of Anthony’s stops, it does feel like if there’s anywhere he’s going to get his jersey retired then it would be in New York. There’s a possibility it happens in Denver as well, where he had the most on-court success, but when people think of Anthony they see him in a Knicks jersey first.
