Despite being one of the greatest players ever to grace an NBA court, Carmelo Anthony spent a little over a year with no teams in the league wanting him. This time was incredibly grating on the now-40-year-old, something he was asked to speak on during a recent appearance on The Point Forward podcast. During this time, he also revealed that he considered going down the business route, which would mean he would retire from the NBA.
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Anthony revealed that out of the 14 months that he was kept out of the NBA, the first few were the toughest. He would struggle to get out of bed, only choosing to go to the gym before he crawled right back into it. He then said that while the TV was his best friend, he didn’t dare tune into a basketball game.
“During that time that I was off, for those 14 months, the first half of those months was like, down and out. Like just, don’t want to get out of bed, go to the gym, in the bed, You know what I mean? Just trying to find new sh*t. TV was my best friend at this point in time. I ain’t watch no sports, no basketball, none of that sh*t!”
The former Nugget then talked about how people looked at him at the time. Then, when he was asked if that’s where ‘Hoodie Melo’ came from, he agreed, stating that he was tired of being seen a certain way.
“People looking at me like ‘He ain’t sh*t no more’, ‘He’s washed’, ‘He is a has been’… Yeah [Hoodie Melo came from there, not wanting to be bothered]. That’s a fact!… I was finding like little small gyms. I was really trying to get back to my essence, of like getting back into grimley gyms, small gyms. It was hot as sh*t in there. Just me, just locked in.”
Melo then revealed that this was where his mindset changed, and how he started to consider retiring from the NBA for good. At this time, he remembers struggling with considering what could’ve been a lucrative business opportunity.
“During that time, ‘Hoodie Melo’ became a business… Most people thought that I was going to come with hoodies. I didn’t want to come with hoodies, I coulda sold 2 million hoodies! I didn’t want to go that route. So I said, I’mma make this a mindset!”
Eventually, Anthony talked about how, in the second half of his time away from the NBA, everything clicked for him. During this time, he came to a decision.
“During the second half of that, it clicked. Know what? I ain’t got to start showing up to these meetings, I can start popping in, I ain’t got to take calls no more… I’mma just completely disconnect from the game of basketball. I’m done.”
Wow, Carmelo Anthony told @pointforward how 'Hoodie Melo' started and it's not what we thought…
The league did this man so dirty pic.twitter.com/YHs6HZ0qZF
— CTRL the Narrative (@ctrlnarrative) June 21, 2024
During this time that he decided to give up on the NBA, Carmelo revealed that he started attending more business meetings. This allowed him to create an “empire” for himself. However, his agent never gave up on his NBA career, something that eventually got him a stint with the Portland Trail Blazers.
The way Carmelo Anthony persevered during this time to only come away from it stronger is no small feat. He eventually got back to the NBA, playing for the Blazers and the Lakers before he finally retired. Today, he also has his own apparel business, Stay ME70 Apparel and Lifestyle, something that has only racked in more money as the years have rolled on.
In the end, Melo called it quits on his own terms, as opposed to being forced out of the league by anyone else. And as he deserves, the NBA community vehemently celebrates him for it.
