Carmelo Anthony’s stylish looks and charming personality might give off the impression that he had a gentrified upbringing. But that was not the case. The 10-time All-Star was born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and raised on the West side of Baltimore, near the Murphy Homes Projects.
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Like many others in his generation, basketball was an escape from a grim reality for Anthony. So when he did escape from the reality of drugs and violent crime, Anthony had gratitude and a desire to give back to his community.
The former New York Knicks star’s longtime agent and manager, Bay Frazier, knows the community very well. He actually met his client in Baltimore when the latter was a “short, skinny 10-year-old“. Their friendship would transition into a business relationship as Anthony started to gain prominence in the basketball scene playing for Oak Hill Academy.
“If you come from where we’re from…you see everything. He [Melo] witnessed drugs, prostitution, murder. When he got to where he was going, giving back was Melo’s No. 1 thing,” Frazier revealed in a Boardroom interview.
The first step to giving back was building a solid foundation for himself on the national basketball scene. Melo did exactly that with his stint with Oak Hill and his 2003 National Championship win with Syracuse. There was no looking back after he was drafted third overall in the blockbuster 2003 NBA Draft that featured the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
“Growing up in the housing projects, you go through experiences without even knowing you’re dealing with anything,” Anthony once told The CEO Magazine. “You just assume that struggle is normal. Everybody is going through the same thing, struggling the same way.”
Melo’s ‘giving back‘ wasn’t just a vague promise that athletes have to do for PR purposes. He got to work immediately after he was drafted into the NBA. Just two years into his NBA career, the then Denver Nuggets forward created The Carmelo Anthony Foundation for his charitable ventures.
That very year he built a Youth Development Center as well on 1100 E. Fayette St. in Baltimore, to help the at-risk youth in the locality restore normalcy in their lives.
The Center has an afterschool program that allows low-income parents to enroll their children free of cost. It also provides youngsters in the community easy access to basic necessities either completely free or in affordable pricing.
Melo has ensured that he expands and maintains his work in his community as he builds his career as an investor and a businessman.
