After failing to sign with a team this past season, NBA great Carmelo Anthony officially announced his retirement on Monday. It was a somber end to a legendary career that deserved to be even better than it was.
But as it turns out, Melo had options if he wanted to keep his playing career alive.
NBA insider Marc Stein reports that several top-level European teams reached out to Anthony but that the 10-time All-Star decided it was NBA or bust. In the end, it was bust.
Obviously, Anthony would have liked one more shot at an NBA Championship but he stuck to his guns and went out on his own terms. He didn’t want to spend the final days of what remained of his career across the pond in a league inferior to the NBA. It clearly wasn’t about the money and no offer was going to be substantial enough to change that.
As he said in his retirement video, Anthony now looks forward to whatever lay ahead.
Anthony leaves the game as one of the scorers best in modern NBA history. He averaged 22.5 points per game for his career, is a six-time All-NBA selection in addition to the 10 All-Star appearances previously mentioned, and was honored as a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Anthony also picked up three Olympic gold medals as a member of Team USA.
