Syracuse basketball legend Carmelo Anthony says two basketball team tried to convince him to unretire earlier this year.
Sports Illustrated reports Melo spoke about his retirement on his new podcast, “7 p.m. in Brooklyn,” in a preview of the first episode released Tuesday. Co-host The Kid Mero asked the 10-time NBA All-Star if anyone tried to coax him into playing again after he officially hung up his sneakers in May.
“China,” Anthony said with a smile.
“The Pelicans called,” he added.
“Melo the Pelican is a crazy…” Mero responded. “Nasty.”
“That would have been that jersey… hide that, hide that,” Anthony said of potentially joining the New Orleans Pelicans.
It’s unclear how close he was to considering playing overseas or with the Pelicans after retirement, but Melo said he was willing to play anywhere during his career.
“I’ll play one-on-one with anybody. Not now,” he told Mero with a laugh.
Anthony, 39, last played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022 and was often rumored as a potential veteran addition to teams competing for an NBA championship. Just last week, the sports blog Hardwood Houdini encouraged the Boston Celtics to try to get Melo to unretire and join the team in a sixth man role.
Melo led Syracuse University to its only NCAA title as a freshman in 2003 and spent 19 seasons in the NBA, including stints with the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and the L.A. Lakers. He ranks 9th on the league’s all-time scoring list with 28,289 points, won three gold medals in the Olympics while playing on a record four USA Basketball teams, and is widely expected to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The full episode of “7 p.m. in Brooklyn with Melo and Mero” will premiere Thursday on multiple podcast platforms, including Amazon, Apple and Spotify.
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