7 Reasons Why Knicks' Carmelo Anthony Jersey Retirement Feels Inevitable

Orange Crush

One thing that really works well in Anthony's favor is the fact that a good bit of basketball history in the Empire State can't be told without reciting Anthony's Wikipedia page.

Born in the Red Rock Houses of Brooklyn, Anthony moved to the DMV area for high school but then left a historic, unique mark on the Syracuse men's program update, guiding the team to its first national championship during his lone collegiate tour in 2003.

That, of course, was followed by Anthony's grand return eight years later, when he was memorable welcome back was heralded by the ever-popular Skylar Grey hit "I'm Coming Home." This fall, the family legend will continue when Anthony's son Kiyan takes the floor for the Orange as a freshman out of Long Island Lutheran.

Though perhaps best-known as the home of the Knicks, MSG serves as a relative metropolitan shrine, a place for all New Yorkers can aspire to gracing, whether its through sports or entertainment, which could be a good reason why Bronx native and Long Island-raised Billy Joel has his own form of laundry up there. On top of that, if non-New Yorkers like Harry Styles and Phish—the latter hailing from rival New England, no less—can get banners, it stands to reason a metro alum like Anthony should join them.

Why? 2K

Anyone looking up at the the MSG rafters on game day gets a de facto Knicks history lesson. As much as the fans may want to forget it, the earlier portions of the new century are a part of that, but the rafters don't do much to rectify that, even though one of the most pure scorers in Association history took the floor on a regular basis.

Despite the spaced out nature of retiring numbers, pretty much every era of Knicks basketball has rafter representation, even some of the earliest portions thanks to the 1992 addition of McGuire. For the time being, however, the new century is not spoken for saved for a few fleeting years of Ewing's twilight.

Brutal as the pre-Jalen Brunson era portions of the millennium could have been, Anthony's antics may have kept some potentially dissenting Knicks fans on board through the dark times, especially with a new metropolitan competitor coming in in the form of the Brooklyn Nets. Thanking him with MSG immortalization would be a touching act of thanks.

The Company You Keep

In a memorable episode of "Seinfeld," the eponymous comedian's enervated friend George Costanza surprisingly lands a job with the New York Yankees. Jerry expresses his shock by listing off Yankee legends, before incredulously adding "Costanza...?!?!?"

Such surprise isn't required for Anthony's inclusion among Knicks legends: Anthony's name isa staple in the Knicks record book, as he's sandwiched by Monroe and Richie Guerin on the franchise's total scoring list and by Brunson and Ewing in points per game. No Knick has scored more in a single Garden game than Anthony, who memorably rattled off 62 in a 2014 win over the Charlotte Bobcats. While that's certainly not a guaranteed way in, it certainly says something considering the prestige of prior Knick rosters and MSG itself.

From a Knicks perspective, there's likely never a wrong time to land in the same sentence as Clyde, Pearl, Pat, and more. Sometimes, getting into the most exclusive clubs is all about who you know, and Anthony is quite familiar with the most renowned names in Knicks history.

Primary Votes

Speaking of good company, Anthony has some literaly super delegates if he's seeing a nomination for MSG's ceiling.

Anthony's late career resurgence out west with the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers, which showcased a diminished yet still-fruitful ability to contribute in the modern Association, perhaps changed a good bit of the narrative on his tenure as a whole, to the point where he was qucikly invited to Springfield the moment he became eligible.

Speaking to Knicks on SI in 2023, both Bradley and Frazier offered ringing endorsements for Anthony's entry shortly after he announced his retirement.

"I think Carmelo had a great career," Bradley said at the time. "I think there's a certain period of time you have to be out before people honor you (but) I'd love to see him up there, why not?"

Frazier, who once expressed a little hesitation about Anthony's candidacy owing to his lack of titles, was also on board while hoping that it would open the doors for more Manhattanites to see their own digits raised.

"Yeah, definitely," Frazier said. "I (also) think Bernard King, maybe Allan Houston, (John) Starks eventually, those guys are very worthy." 

The Rockies Aren't Rocky

If the Nuggets can do it, why not the Knicks?

The whole reason Anthony is such a metropolitan legend in the first place is because his relationship with his original NBA employers, the Denver Nuggets, deteriorated to a point where they had no choice but to send Anthony home, literally and figuratively after eight successful seasons that helped put their franchise back on the map.

Denver's situation is far more awkward than what the Knicks have going with Anthony: so rooted were the hurt feelings out west that the Nuggets actually gave Anthony's No. 15 to a second-round draft pick ... who turned out to be none other than Nikola Jokic, who finished what Anthony started in terms of the team's NBA championship aspirations. Jokic figures to be a lock for a number retirement, which the Nuggets obviously hope is a ways off.

A recent report from Marc Spears of Andscape, however, indicates that the Nuggets are full collaborators in celebrating Anthony's special weekend and Josh Kroenke, part of the team's ownership group, hinted that a larger commemoration could be in story. That should make any lingering Knicks hostilities easy to overcome, especially because ...

Meet the New Boss(es)

Anthony's ousting was mostly a product of the failed Phil Jackson era, a mirage that produced a fair amount of hype but not much in terms of on-court results. By what's likely no coincidence, dealing Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017 was one of the final moves of the Jackson era before the path to Leon Rose started to be paved.

Rose is one of several new faces that has entered the Knicks' front office since Jackson's acrimonious departure, helping flip the franchise's fortune better than anyone ever could. The fact that Anthony has remained in the good graces of the Knicks organization, which has often hosted him courtside for high-profile games at MSG, shows that amends, if any, have already been made, and there's no reason to keep such a strong ambassador out of the rafters at this point.

While "Curse of Carmelo" certainly has a jingly ring to it, the Knicks could use all the good karma they can get as they embark on what appears to be the most legitimate, sustainable championship case they've had in quite some time.