Carmelo Anthony: 56 facts you didn’t know about the basketball player!

Carmelo Anthony is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Anthony attended Towson Catholic High School and Oak Hill Academy before playing college basketball at Syracuse. In Anthony’s freshman season, he led the Orangemen to their first and only National Championship and was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Anthony then entered the 2003 NBA draft where he was selected with the third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets.

Find out more facts about him, here!

1. Carmelo Kyam Anthony was born May 29, 1984 in Brooklyn, New York City.

2. He was born to a Black Puerto Rican father and an African-American mother, Mary Anthony.

3. His father (after whom he is named) died of cancer when Anthony was two years old.

4. When Anthony turned eight, his family moved to Baltimore, where he honed not only his athletic skills, but his survival skills.

5. 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.”

6. 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.

7. Anthony commuted to Towson Catholic High School for his first three years of high school.

8. During the summer of 1999, Anthony grew five inches into the frame of a 6–5 swingman.

9. He suddenly became one of the area’s top players and 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.

10. During his sophomore year, he averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

11. Towson Catholic surged to a record of 26–3 and finished third in the state tournament. Anthony enjoyed a successful high school basketball career as a junior, almost doubling his numbers in scoring and rebounds, averaging 23 points and 10.3 rebounds.

12. Despite his successful year, Anthony was distracted by all of the attention, and was suspended on several occasions for skipping classes.

13. He barely registered a blip on the radars of pro scouts with his skinny frame and lack of strength; many scouts felt that he was not ready for the physical demands of the NBA.

14. In the end, Towson Catholic fell short of the state title, although he was named Baltimore’s County Player of the Year, All-Metropolitan Player of the Year and Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year.

15. After his junior year, Division I coaches were lined up to recruit Anthony to a school on the East Coast, which included North Carolina and Syracuse.

16. In contrast to contemporary prep-to-pro players like Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady or Amar’e Stoudemire, he decided to declare early and announce that he would attend Syracuse University before his senior year.

17. As Anthony’s grades dropped under a C average and his scores on the ACT were below acceptable standards, he knew that he needed to improve in the classroom to qualify academically for Syracuse. For his senior year, his mother considered transferring him to a different school.

18. Anthony first thought of Virginia’s Hargrave Military Academy but after talking to Steve Smith, the head coach at basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy, he eventually transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia—winner of the USA Today 2000–01 high school championship—for his senior campaign.

19. During the summer of 2001, Anthony led an AAU Baltimore Select team to the Final Four of the Adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.

20. Anthony attracted attention from the NBA by averaging 25.2 points a game in the tournament, which was also attended by Amar’e Stoudemire (who was already being touted as a future lottery pick).

21. Anthony played at the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival where he helped the East Team win the silver medal.

22. He tied LeBron James for the tournament scoring lead at 24 points per game and shot 66 percent from the field. It was there that Anthony and James struck up a friendship.

23. Oak Hill Academy entered the 2001–02 campaign boasting a 42-game winning streak. The team’s first tournament win came in The Les Schwab Invitational against Mater Dei High School from Santa Ana, California, with Anthony winning the tournament MVP.

24. Oak Hill won two more big-time tournaments, including the Nike Academy National Invitational where they knocked off then-No. 1 Westchester High School 77–61 in the final,[15] and an anticipated game against St. Vincent – St. Mary High School of Akron, Ohio, where he was matched up with high school phenom LeBron James.

25. James scored 36 points, while Anthony scored 34 points and 11 rebounds to lead Oak Hill to a 72–66 win. The team ended the season ranked third in the country at 32–1, with their only loss coming in a rematch against Mater Dei, which ended their unbeaten streak at 67.

26. He averaged 21.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists during his senior year at Oak Hill and named a USA Today All-USA First Team and a Parade First-Team All-American.

27. He was selected to play in the Jordan Brand Classic, scoring a game-high 27 points, and the 2002 McDonald’s All-American Game, where he played on the same team with two future New York Knicks teammates, Raymond Felton and Amar’e Stoudemire.

28. In that game, he scored 19 points and won the Sprite Slam Jam dunk contest.

29. His performances at the high school All-Star games, helped lift his reputation with HoopScoop ranking him as the nation’s No. 1 high school senior in the class of 2002, ranked 2nd by College Basketball News and 3rd by All-Star Sports.

30. Due to his struggles with the ACT, his family and friends wondered whether Anthony would forget about his college plans to attend Syracuse and move on to the NBA.

31. He had yet to produce the minimum score of 18, however, in late April Anthony got a 19 and decided to stick with college and prepared for his freshman year at Syracuse.

32. In April 2009, he was named to the ESPN RISE’s all-decade team and was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald’s All-Americans in January 2012.

33. Anthony played one season at Syracuse University, during the 2002–2003 season, where he averaged 22.2 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).

34. He 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.

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. 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 as so as unanimous selection for Big East All Rookie Team.

40. Since entering the NBA, Anthony has been named an All-Star nine times and an All-NBA Team member six times.

41. While playing for Denver, he led the Nuggets to the playoffs every year from 2004 to 2010, winning two division titles in that span. In 2009, Anthony led the Nuggets to their first Conference Finals appearance since 1985.

42. In 2011, he was traded from Denver to the New York Knicks just days prior to the NBA trade deadline.

43. On January 24, 2014, against the Charlotte Bobcats, Anthony set the Madison Square Garden and Knicks’ single-game scoring record with a career-high 62 points.

44. Anthony has been a member of the USA Olympic basketball team a record four times, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and gold medals at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. He is the United States Olympic men’s national basketball team all-time leading scorer, leader in rebounds and games played.

45. Anthony has two brothers, Robert and Wilford, and a half-sister, Daphne.

46. He had another sister, Michelle, who died in 2010.

47. In 2004, Anthony became engaged to Alani “La La” Vazquez.

48. Their son, Kiyan Carmelo Anthony, was born on March 7, 2007.

49. Anthony and La La were married by Michael Eric Dyson on July 10, 2010 at Cipriani’s in New York City before 320 guests.

50. The ceremony was filmed by VH1 for use in a reality series on the couple, titled La La’s Full Court Wedding.

Anthony resides on the Upper West Side.

51. In 2004, Anthony was cited for marijuana possession, after inspectors at Denver International Airport found marijuana in his backpack. Charges were later dropped after Anthony’s friend, James Cunningham, of St. Louis, signed an affidavit taking responsibility for the marijuana.

52. That same year, 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.

53. In 2006, Anthony’s friend, Tyler Brandon Smith, was pulled over in Anthony’s vehicle and cited for marijuana possession and three traffic violations. Later that year, he was involved in the infamous Knicks–Nuggets brawl during a game at Madison Square Garden. He was suspended for 15 games as a result.

54. On April 14, 2008, Anthony was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, after being pulled over on southbound Interstate 25 at 20th Street in Denver for weaving through lanes and not dimming his lights. Police spokesperson Detective Sharon Hahn said Anthony, who was alone in the car, failed a series of sobriety tests. He was ticketed and then released at police headquarters to a “sober responsible party.”

55. On June 24, 2008, Anthony pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while ability-impaired. The original sentence of driving while under the influence was dropped, and he was subsequently sentenced to one year of probation, 24 hours of community service and US$1,000 in court costs and fines.

56. Anthony has been recently advocating various social justice causes, he is also being criticized by South Bronx community activists for aligning himself with Mott Haven developer Keith Rubenstein’s efforts to build luxury apartment buildings in the neighborhood which could lead to gentrification.