2011 was a huge free agency year in the NBA. Several teams were in the midst of an organizational rebuild, with most of the eyes on LeBron James and his “Decision” that led to the Big Three out in Miami. But The King wasn’t the only player who was highly sought after in that time. Carmelo Anthony was also on the move…onto the Big Apple as New York Knick.
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Melo recalled this strange time in his life on the latest edition of his 7PM In Brooklyn podcast. The 10-time All-Star mentioned how hot the free agency market was at that time. “It was all eyes on him (LeBron) in New York at that point in time. Bron is making a decision. Chris Bosh is a free agent. D-Wade. Now they looking at me. ‘Melo why you ain’t a free agent,'” he said.
Problem was Melo was still a member of the Nuggets at the time and according to him, he had no desire to leave. “I’m still in Denver though. I was loving Denver at this time. So I don’t want to leave. I ain’t about to be no free agent and leave,” the now 40-year-old star stated.
Anthony’s demeanor would change quick once the Nuggs informed him of their plan going forward. “Now, when I get to Denver they hit me with the same sh**. They start the rebuild. But they don’t tell me they tell him. They about to rebuild the roster.” That wasn’t something he was interested in doing, so he took the opportunity for Denver to deal him away.
“I said look, if y’all gonna rebuild let’s work on this together and let’s get a place,” Melo recalled. “They came to me and said what places you want. I said, there’s only one place I want to go to, and that’s New York.” That didn’t seem to be on the table for Denver as the Knicks didn’t have any players they wanted, but offered Anthony a look at the Jazz.
Utah wasn’t a place that Melo wanted to go though, and eventually the decision was between two squads: “It was Lakers or it was the Knicks.” The truth Anthony stated was that he only wanted to be in the Big Apple, especially after hearing all of the amazing stories from his boy, Amar’e Stoudemire, who sat next him while he retold this story.
“Me, you, Ray Felton. We wanted to do this since high school. We got a chance to do this in New York. That was our connection,” added the newly inducted Hall of Famer.
Melo’s dream did come true. He gave the Knicks seven glorious seasons between 2011-2017. Despite some memorable moments and multiple playoff appearances, the chase for a ring was not completed during that time.
Regardless, New York accepted Melo as one of their own. He is still widely beloved in Madison Square Garden and attends a large portion of Knicks games. The fact that his trade sort of gets lost in the clutter of LeBron’s “Decision” is wild. Anthony may be one of the best players ever to have never won a ring.
Fortunately, he does have those two Olympic Gold Medals as a part of Team USA. That probably won’t make Knicks fans happy. But are they ever happy?
