NBA legend Carmelo Anthony recalls his move to the New York Knicks, thanks to Amar'e Stoudemire

Time of India

2 days ago

For Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks were a big part of his journey. The legendary career he has built, thanks to the legacy of the New York Knicks, has been commendable. He spoke about how he managed to find space in the fast-paced environment and how it was Amar'e Stoudemire who convinced him to take up the opportunity even when he was absolutely uncertain about the idea of it.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Carmelo Anthony's journey to New York Knicks, thanks to Amar'e Stoudemire
Speaking on his podcast '7 PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony,' Carmelo Anthony discussed how he moved from Denver Nuggets to New York Knicks. From 2003 to 2011, he was associated with the Nuggets. From 2011 to 2017, he was associated with the Knicks. He said he didn't feel like leaving the Nuggets, but then, he realized the team was rebuilding without him. He has always been a fan of the Knicks.
How Amar'e Stoudemire Influenced Carmelo Anthony's Trade to the New York Knicks
Anthony discussed his move from Nuggets, since the team began rebuilding.
'When I got to Denver, they started to rebuild. But they didn't tell me. They told him they started to rebuild the roster. I'm like, "Okay, they were not about to, we just went to the West Conference Finals. We won two possessions away from winning the championship." Yeah. I do think we've got Orlando out of there that year. Yeah. Yeah. So, we are two possessions away from winning the championship, right? So, I break that up.
So, now all that start to transpire in Denver. And I say, "Look, if y'all going to rebuild, let's work on this together and let's find it. Let's get a place,' Anthony said.
Unaware, but excited, Anthony felt New York was his best option. He then said, " They came to me and said, "What places do you want?" I said, "There's only one place I want to go to, and it's New York." And they Oh, no. Oh, no. New York has nothing that we want. But we have a deal in Utah for you.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
They were going to send me to Utah. George Carl wanted to send me to Utah. He wanted Favor. That's crazy.'
Further, Carmelo said, 'Like, I didn't want to go third, fourth, fiddle with somebody else. Right. Right. So, I came to New York. It's New York. This is my type of energy. This is my energy, my homegrown family. Like, I don't need it if I'm going to go anywhere, I want to be in front of that energy, right? Because I know what I was chasing at that point in time.
But if I can do it in New York with something that he's already started, he jumps start it, right? So if I can come here and help him out and we do it together.
Oh my gosh. And that was all we used to talk about…'
Amar'e Stoudemire embraced New York
Amar'e Stoudemire said, 'I think for me it was more so wanting to display my full skill set, right? And I felt like coming to New York would allow me to do that because Mike Danton knew my full skill set. And I was somewhat not afraid of the city, right? A lot of the guys lived out in, you know, up, you know, upstate more Westchester areas.'
He added, ' I'm like, "No, I'm moving to the city. Like, I'm embracing this." You know what I'm saying? And as a player, it was a challenge for me. I'm like, "All right, cool. I'm down with this challenge." Like, I'm not shying away from trying to be my best self, you know, and to make my teammates better and try to build something here.
He added, 'And we started out solid like 500. Yeah. And I was fed up. I'm like, listen, I'm tired of being on the team. I'm tired of being like this facilitator. I got to really take over. And you did. We all remember that stretch. I think it was 20 straight 25-30 games, whatever, 30 or something. Insane.'
Also Read: