Nas and Fat Joe are among the Hip Hop hoops fans who have paid tribute to Carmelo Anthony after the basketball legend announced his retirement.
Melo bid farewell to his decorated playing career in a video posted to social media on Monday (May 22), which he captioned with the message: “Thank you #STAYME7O.”
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A versatile forward known for his prolific and crafty scoring ability, the 38-year-old spent 19 seasons in the NBA, during which he was named an NBA All-Star 10 times and won the league’s scoring title in 2013.
After being drafted by the Denver Nuggets third overall in 2003 NBA draft, Melo spent seven and a half seasons in Colorado and a further six and a half with his hometown New York Knicks, before having brief stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trailblazers and Los Angeles Lakers.
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Although an NBA championship eluded him, Anthony won an NCAA title with Syracuse in his first and only year of college and three Olympic gold medals with Team USA, making him the most decorated basketball Olympian in the nation’s history.
“I remember the days when I had nothing — just a ball on a court, and a dream of something more,” Melo said in his retirement announcement, which was soundtracked by Ghostface Killah and Mary J. Blige’s sweet 1996 song “All That I Got Is You.”
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“But basketball was my outlet. My purpose was strong, my communities, the cities I represented with pride, and the fans that supported me along the way. I am forever grateful for those people and places ’cause they made me, Carmelo Anthony.”
He continued: “But now the time has come for me to say goodbye. To the court where I made my name, to the game that gave me purpose and pride. But this bittersweet goodbye to the NBA, I’m excited about what the future holds for me.”
Helping to give him a proper send-off, Nas narrated a video from Air Jordan paying tribute to Carmelo Anthony’s lengthy NBA career and, more importantly, the people and places he represented and inspired while putting numbers on the board.
Melo repped Jordan during the height of his career and even became the first athlete not named Michael Jordan to receive a signature shoe from the brand in 2004 following a sensational rookie campaign.
“He didn’t do it for the accolades or the Hall of Fame votes,” the Queensbridge rapper says in the cinematic clip as various jerseys from Melo’s career are immortalized by adoring fans from around the world.
“Boy did it for the kids from Red Hook, the crew from the block, Murphy Homes projects, San Juan, those with hoops dreams, dreams of hope and beyond. So when they look up, they see the sky for what it is: just another place for them to fly.”
Nas wasn’t alone in bidding farewell to Melo, as Hip Hop peers like Ludacris, Raekwon, Lloyd Banks, 9th Wonder and Rapsody also saluted the future NBA Hall of Famer in the comments section.
“Simply Thank You,” Luda wrote, while Banks echoed that sentiment by commenting: “Thanks for everything you’ve done for basketball.”
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9th heaped high praise on Melo, adding: “One of my favorite players of ALL time brother. ALL time. Much love bro.”
In a separate post on his own Instagram page, Knicks die-hard and fellow New Yorker Fat Joe congratulated Melo on an illustrious career.
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“Well done brother well done @carmeloanthony Congratulations you deserve all the glory,” he wrote next to a photo of Anthony during his days as the leader of the Knicks.
Over on Twitter, Metro Boomin added to the tributes by sharing a photo of Anthony dueling with the late Kobe Bryant during his early career with the Nuggets.
