Carmelo Anthony said he turned down the dream opportunity to retire as a Knick because playing time would have been sporadic and the offer seemed unconvincing.
The former face of the franchise revealed that he and the Knicks’ “powers that be” have discussed a possible reunion in the summer of 2022.
However, the role offered was: ‘Today you might play and the next six games you might not play.’
“I said, ‘No, no. I can’t,’” Anthony said on his “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast. “Not knowing when you’re going to play and not playing, I’d rather not go through that. I’m going to bow out gracefully. I just had a hell of a year in L.A. [with the Lakers] “In my role, basketball is not the problem. I can’t do that. It’s a huge decline when I look at the big picture, the whole picture.”
The future Hall of Famer, who averaged 13.3 points in 26 minutes in 69 games with the Lakers, added that the Knicks – whose front office is led by Anthony’s former agent, Leon Rose – were also lukewarm on their pitch.
“I don’t even think you wanted me in that role, that’s why you offered it, but you didn’t really offer it. That’s not the representation of the No. 7 New York Knicks that we want people to remember,” Anthony said. “I think they were hesitant to really offer me that role because of the response they would have gotten if I was out there and not playing. It would have been more of a distraction than an addition. It’s a distraction if I’m out there on the bench and the whole Garden is saying, ‘We want Melo.’”
Anthony was not signed to a contract for the 2022-23 season and officially retired in May 2023.
The Knicks used their remaining roster spots from training camp to sign Ryan Arcidiacono and Svi Mykhailiuk.
He is seventh on the Knicks’ all-time leading scorer list after a roller-coaster six seasons with the team starting in 2011.
He was a constant presence at MSG during last season’s playoffs, leading to speculation that his No. 7 would become the franchise’s first number to be retired since Patrick Ewing’s No. 33.
Anthony said on his podcast that the Knicks used his roster spot for Taj Gibson, but that doesn’t make sense because Tom Thibodeau’s favorite center only played for the Wizards that season.
While it could still happen, Anthony’s swan song season with the Knicks never happened.
“That was the vision I had,” Anthony said. “My goal was always to come back and finish here.”
