Carmelo Anthony

His father, after whom Anthony is named, died of cancer when Anthony was three years old.[2] When Anthony turned eight, his family moved to Baltimore, where he honed not only his athletic skills, but his survival skills.[3] Kenny Minor, one of Anthony's childhood friends, said, "from drugs to killings to anything you can name that goes on in the roughest parts of town, we've seen and witnessed hands on. Those are the things that teach you toughness and keep you mentally focused on your goals."[3] Sports would serve as an important diversion from the violence and drug dealing that were pervasive in the housing projects a few blocks from the homes of Anthony and his friends.[3]

[edit] High school career

Anthony commuted to Towson Catholic High School for his first three years of high school. During the summer of 2000, when he grew five inches, he made a name for himself in the area, being named The Baltimore Sun's metro player of the year in 2001, as well as Baltimore Catholic League player of the year.[4] Anthony transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia for his senior campaign. While at Oak Hill Academy, Anthony was named to the McDonald's All-American Team and won the Sprite Slam Jam dunk contest prior to the McDonald’s All-American game.[4] He was also named a USA Today First-Team All-American and a Parade First-Team All-American.

[edit] College career

Anthony played one season (2002-2003) at Syracuse University. He averaged 22.1 points (16th in the NCAA, 4th in the Big East) and 10.0 rebounds (19th in the NCAA, 3rd in the Big East, 1st among NCAA Division I freshmen). Anthony helped guide the Orangemen to their first ever NCAA tournament title in 2003. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, minutes played (36.4 minutes per game), field goals made and free throws made and attempted. Anthony's 33-point outburst against the University of Texas in the Final Four set an NCAA tournament record for most points by a freshman. In the championship game against the University of Kansas, Anthony had 20 points and 10 rebounds. For his efforts during the NCAA tournament, Anthony earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award. Afterwards, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim described Anthony as, "....by far, the best player in college basketball. It wasn't even close. Nobody was even close to him last year in college basketball. That's the bottom line."[5]

Anthony said that he originally planned to stay at Syracuse for two to three seasons, but having already accomplished everything he set out to do, he chose to abandon his collegiate career (with Boeheim's blessing) and declared himself eligible for the 2003 NBA Draft.[6][7]

Some of Anthony's highlights in his time with Syracuse include being named Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press as a freshman, leading his team to a 30-5 record, capturing the school's first ever NCAA title and being the consensus pick for NCAA Freshman of the Year. He was also named to the All-Big East First Team and was the consensus selection for the Big East Conference Freshman of the Year.

[edit] NBA career

[edit] Rookie season

Anthony's NBA career began on June 26, 2003, when he was chosen in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft draft by the Denver Nuggets. He was selected behind LeBron James (1st overall, Cleveland Cavaliers) and Darko Miličić (2nd overall, Detroit Pistons). He made his NBA regular season debut on October 29, 2003, in an 80-72 home win against the San Antonio Spurs.[8] Anthony finished the night scoring 12 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists. In just his sixth career NBA game (November 7 versus the Los Angeles Clippers), Anthony scored 30 points, becoming the second youngest player in NBA history to score 30 points or more in a game (19 years, 151 days; Kobe Bryant was the youngest).[9] It was the fewest amount of games a Nuggets rookie took to score 30 points in a contest since the ABA/NBA merger. On February 9, 2004, against the Memphis Grizzlies, Anthony became the third-youngest player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in NBA history with a 20-point effort in an 86-83 win.[10]

On February 13, 2004, Anthony participated in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend. In 30 minutes of playing time, Anthony scored 17 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out 5 assists in a losing effort (142-118). On March 30, 2004, he scored 41 points against the Seattle SuperSonics to set a new Denver Nuggets franchise mark for most points in a game by a rookie.[11] He also became the second-youngest player (19 years, 305 days) to score at least 40 points in a game in NBA history.

After winning the Rookie of the Month award for the Western Conference in the month of April, Anthony became just the fourth player in NBA history to capture all six of the Rookie of the Month awards in a season. The others to do so were David Robinson, Tim Duncan and fellow rookie LeBron James. Anthony was also named NBA Player of the Week twice (March 10-March 14, 2004 and April 6-April 10, 2004) and was a unanimous NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. Anthony averaged 21.0 ppg during the season, which was more than any other rookie. That mark also placed him 12th overall in the entire league. Anthony was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, finishing as the runner-up to the Cavaliers rookie standout, James.

Anthony was a major part in the turn around of the Denver Nuggets from league laughingstock to playoff contender. In the season before Anthony was drafted by the team, the Nuggets finished with a 17-65 record, which tied them for worst in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They finished the 2003-04 campaign with a 43-39 overall record, qualifying them as the eighth seed for the post-season. Anthony became the first NBA rookie to lead a playoff team in scoring since David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs during the 1989-90 season. The Nuggets faced the top-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. In Anthony's first career playoff game, he had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, in a 106-92 loss at Minnesota.[12] Anthony and the rest of his team were eliminated by the Timberwolves in five games.

[edit] 2004-2005 season

In Anthony's second season, he started in 75 of the 82 games for the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 20.8 ppg, which ranked him 19th in the NBA. Anthony placed 16th in the NBA for points per 48 minutes. On December 4, 2004, versus the Miami Heat, Anthony became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career points.[13] Only James and Bryant were younger when they reached that plateau. Anthony played again in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge, this time suiting up for the sophomore squad. In front of his home fans of Denver (who were hosting the 2005 All-Star Game), Anthony scored a game-high 31 points to go along with 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, en route to becoming the MVP of the game.

With Anthony's help, the Nuggets improved their season record by six games from the previous season, ending with a mark of 49-33. The Nuggets finished seventh place in the Western Conference (one spot higher than they finished the previous season). Denver faced the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round, winning the first game in San Antonio, 93-87.[14] However, the Spurs won the next four games, eliminating the Nuggets from the playoffs.

[edit] 2005-2006 season

Anthony played and started in 80 games during the season. He averaged 26.5 ppg (8th, NBA), 2.7 apg, 4.9 rpg and 1.1 spg. His eighth place finish in NBA scoring was the highest finish by a Denver player since the 1990-91 season, when Nuggets guard Michael Adams finished the season sixth in NBA scoring.

On November 23, 2005, with the Nuggets facing the two-time defending Eastern Conference Champion Detroit Pistons, Anthony hauled down his 1,000th career rebound.

On December 27, 2005, Anthony recorded a career-high 45 points in a losing effort against the Philadelphia 76ers.

On March 17, 2006, versus the Memphis Grizzlies, Anthony scored 33 points to push his career point total over the 5,000 mark.[15] Also, in doing so, he became the second youngest player to accomplish that feat (behind James). As the month of March came to a close, the Nuggets finished 11-5, and Anthony was named as the NBA Player of the Month for March. He also took home Player of the Week honors for March 13-March 19, 2006.

During the season, Anthony made five game-winning shots in the last five seconds: at Houston on January 8, 2006; at home versus Phoenix on January 10, 2006; at Minnesota on February 24, 2006; at Indiana on March 15, 2006; at home versus the Los Angeles Lakers on April 6, 2006. All five of those game-winners were made on jump shots, while the shot against Minnesota was a three-point field goal. Anthony also made a shot in the final seconds to force overtime vs. the Dallas Mavericks on January 6, 2006. He made shots in the final 22 seconds against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 18, 2006, and the Philadelphia 76ers on March 9, 2006, which gave the Nuggets leads they would never lose.

Anthony was named to the All-NBA Third Team for the season, alongside Phoenix' Shawn Marion, Houston's Yao Ming, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Washington's Gilbert Arenas.

The Nuggets finished the season in third place, winning the Northwest Division for the first time in Anthony's career. Denver faced the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers held home court advantage in the series, due to ending the regular season with a better record (Denver finished 44-38; Los Angeles finished 47-35). The Clippers won the first two games of the series on their home floor. The Nuggets split their games at home in Denver (winning game three; losing game four). Denver then lost game five at Los Angeles, which eliminated the Nuggets from the playoffs.

Anthony led the Nuggets in the post-season each of his first three seasons. However, the team didn't get past the first round of the playoffs, losing each time to the Timberwolves, Spurs and the Clippers. He appeared in 14 playoff games during that stretch, with averages of 18.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.5 apg and 0.9 spg.

[edit] 2006-2007 season

In the eighth game of the season (a 117-109 home win against the Toronto Raptors), Anthony tied the franchise record of six-straight 30-point games recorded by Alex English (1982-83 season).[16] He fell short of establishing a new record in his ninth game (a 113-109 home victory over the Chicago Bulls on November 21, 2006), as he finished with 29 points.[17] After the Chicago victory, Anthony again tied the club record of six-straight 30-point games, failing to break it the second time around, as he scored 24 points in his 16th game (a 98-96 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks) on December 6, 2006).[18]

On December 16, 2006, Anthony was one of many players involved in the infamous Knicks-Nuggets brawl during a game at Madison Square Garden.[19] Footage showed Anthony laying a punch on the face of New York's Mardy Collins and then backing up to mid-court. As a result of his actions, Anthony was suspended for 15 games by NBA commissioner David Stern.[20] Shortly thereafter, the Nuggets traded for Allen Iverson in a bid to form a deadly combination with Anthony. The duo didn't get to play alongside one another until a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 22, 2007, which was the day Anthony was allowed to return from his 15-game suspension.[21] Anthony finished the game with 28 points, as he and Iverson combined for 51 points.

When the reserves for the Western Conference All-Star team were announced, Anthony was left off of the roster.[22] However, with Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer out with injuries, NBA commissioner David Stern chose Anthony as a replacement (along with Josh Howard).[23] Anthony scored 20 points with 9 rebounds in his All-Star debut.

On February 2, 2007, Anthony and fellow teammate J.R. Smith, were involved in a minor car accident.[24] Neither player was injured in the collision. The only information released by the team was that the car Smith was driving belonged to Anthony.

On February 5, 2007, Anthony recorded his first ever NBA triple-double, with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, in a 113-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns.[25]

Anthony won Player of the Week honors three times during the season (November 20-November 26, 2006; November 27–December 3, 2006; and February 5-February 11, 2007). Anthony also took home Player of the Month honors for April 2007, after leading the Nuggets to a 10-1 record for the month and into sixth place in the final regular season standings of the Western Conference. Anthony finished the season as the league's second leading scorer behind Bryant, with an average of 28.9 ppg, while adding 6.0 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.2 spg.

Anthony was named to All-NBA Third Team for the second straight year, along with Miami's Dwyane Wade, Detroit's Chauncy Billups, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Orlando's Dwight Howard.

For the second time in three years, Anthony and the sixth-seeded Nuggets faced the third-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. In a virtual repeat of the 2005 first round playoff matchup between the two teams, Denver won the first game in San Antonio, 95-89, only to lose the next four games. The Nuggets were eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight year. In the playoff series against the Spurs, Anthony averaged a team-high 26.8 ppg to go along with 8.6 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.0 spg.

[edit] Controversies

Since entering the NBA, Anthony has been the subject of numerous controversies. In 2004, Anthony was cited for marijuana possession, after inspectors at Denver International Airport found marijuana in his backpack.[26] Charges were later dropped after Anthony’s friend, James Cunningham, of St. Louis, signed an affidavit taking responsibility for the marijuana. In 2006, Anthony’s friend, Tyler Brandon Smith, was pulled over in Anthony’s 2005 Dodge Magnum and cited for marijuana possession and three traffic violations.[27]

In 2004, Anthony appeared in a video entitled, Stop Snitchin', which warned that residents of Baltimore who collaborated with the police would face violence. Anthony later distanced himself from this video.[28]

In 2006, Anthony was involved in the infamous Knicks-Nuggets brawl during a game at Madison Square Garden.