Former New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony was officially inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame over the weekend. The 2013 scoring champion and 10-time All-Star was one of the greatest players in league history, but there is one big thing that he never got to achieve during his career.
Carmelo Anthony addresses lack of playoff success in HOF speech
Despite playing for 19 seasons, Anthony never won an NBA championship, and also never even reached the Finals. He also won only one playoff series during his time with the Knicks, which came in 2013 against the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Anthony addressed the lack of postseason success during his Hall of Fame speech.
“I never got an NBA ring, and some will always define me by that, but I know what I gave to this game, and I know what this game gave back. Legacy isn’t always made in championships. Sometimes it’s made in consistency, in a refusal to quit and showing up over and over again when no one’s clapping. I played the game with fire, with passion, with love, with joy, I gave it everything I had every single night,” Anthony said (h/t Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Brener).
Anthony did win a ring at the NCAA level, winning the National Championship in his lone season with Syracuse. However, many critics point to his lack of NBA playoff success as a reason why his career shouldn’t get as much credit as it deserves.
Knicks: Anthony was one of the best scorers of all-time
In reality, Anthony was one of the most prolific scorers of this generation. He averaged 22.5 points for his career, and evolved his game over time from being a rim-attacking slasher to a dominant jump shooter in the later stages of his career.
Anthony is also 10th all-time in the NBA’s scoring list with 28,289 points lifetime. He is also one of only 16 players to have made over 10,000 field goal attempts.
The now Hall of Famer unfortunately never got to experience winning an NBA championship, but his illustrious career was rightfully honored with an induction into basketball immortality.