Future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony Putting Money Together for NBA Ownership Bid

Longtime NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony is hardly standing still in his dotage.

The 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA standout retired following the 2021-22 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. But he’s remained a fixture around the league ever since, frequently showing up courtside to take in his beloved New York Knicks, and making a big impression this summer while covertly, unofficially coaching Team USA during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Anthony also has launched a fresh podcast, alongside comedian/personality The Kid Mero, called “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero,” via Wave Sports+ Entertainment. The pod boasts more than 255,000 subscriptions on YouTube and is known around the league as an entertaining resource for sports conversation.

Despite accruing $262,523,093 over the course of his career just on the court (to say nothing of his off-court marketing money or investment profile), Anthony revealed he is hoping to purchase an ownership stake in an NBA franchise — and that he’s having some trouble putting together the money necessary to own a major chunk of a team.

“That’s how you create what they’re talking about, generational [wealth]. I’m out there trying to raise money now, trying to raise money with my sports fund, I’ve been traveling the world,” Anthony revealed. “It’s hard to raise money… And getting people to understand what sports is. It’s so much money being spent into sports, and people really don’t understand it. People really don’t understand sports… [The NBA] is a small piece of sports globally. A small piece in the grand scheme of things. This is one market.”

Following a freshman season run to the NCAA championship with Syracuse in 2002-03, the 6-foot-7 wing was initially drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the third pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.

Fellow future Hall of Famers LeBron James (the No. 1 pick), Chris Bosh (the No. 4 pick) and Dwyane Wade (the No. 5 pick) were also in that draft, as were fellow All-Stars Chris Kaman (the No. 6 pick), David West (the No. 18 pick), Josh Howard (the No. 29 pick), Mo Williams (the No. 47 pick) and Kyle Korver (the No. 51 pick).

Anthony quickly emerged as one of the most lethal scorers in the league, playing on several fun Western Conference also-ran squads in Denver. After the club flipped Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets broke through, winning their first (and second) playoff series during the Anthony era in 2008-09, and marching all the way to the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets fell to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

Eventually, on the verge of unrestricted free agency, Anthony demanded to be traded to the New York Knicks. He had a similar run there, only once advancing past the first round.

After his athleticism began to decline, Anthony began ring-chasing, with stints on the Oklahoma City Thunder and (for 10 games) the Houston Rockets. After struggling to accept his new reality as a bench player, Anthony finally embraced that role when he latched on with the Portland Trail Blazers as a floor-spacing sixth man from 2019-21. He wrapped up his career as one of the few bright lights on an otherwise-miserable Lakers team.

In 1,260 career regular season games, Anthony averaged 22.5 points on a .447/.355/.814 slash line, 6.2 boards, 2.7 assists, 1.0 swipes, and 0.5 blocks per game.

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