Carmelo Anthony is a basketball player who is regarded as one of the greatest talents of the NBA in recent times, he plays for the Portland Trail Blazers as of this writing. The sportsman has a staggering $160 million net worth, making him one of the richest players in the sport and one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. He began his career playing for the Denver Nuggets, and then the New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets. He also played for the US team.
Early Life and How His Career Began
Being the youngest of the four children of his Puerto Rican father Carmelo Iriarte, and African American mother Mary Anthony, Carmelo was born in Brooklyn, New York on the 29th of May 1984. Although his father died of liver failure when Carmelo was 2 years old, his mother did her best in providing for him and his siblings. He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland along with his three older siblings: Robert, Wilford, and a half-sister named Daphne.
Playing basketball at a very young age at Towson Catholic High school was difficult for him, he couldn’t improve his game, so Carmelo was put out from the school team. He didn’t relent in his quest to push up. Through rigorous practice, he later built himself into a fine star and began to gain the attention of almost everyone.
As Carmelo Anthony continued to improve his game, coaches from various universities began to pay serious attention to him. Carmelo wanted to play for Syracuse University, but he needed to meet the school’s academic requirements first. He later decided to move to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, a school known for its age-long strictness and discipline designed to cater for future NBA players.
The change proved tough for Carmelo, but he stood his ground and took his test scores and game to a higher level. It didn’t take much time before he became the best high school basketball player in the whole country.
Carmelo Anthony’s Career History and Accomplishments
Carmelo immediately settled down to the game at Syracuse University. In 2002, he helped his team bag its first national championship by knocking out the favorites – the University of Kansas. In the 81 – 71 win, Anthony recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds. With great exploits at the tournament, he was honored with the Most Outstanding Player Award. Not long after that, he announced that he was ready to proceed to the NBA.
Carmelo Anthony got selected with the third overall pick by the Nuggets in the 2003 NBA draft, marking the start of his NBA career. In his debut season, he got to record an average of 21 points and 6 rebounds per game. With that, he was named in the All-Rookie team of the year.
Over the course of his career, he became one of the greatest scorers in the NBA. In 2008 Carmelo broke a record by scoring 33 points in a single quarter against Minnesota.
Due to his talent and quality, other teams made moves to get him to join their side. In the middle of the 2011 season, Carmelo moved to the New York Knicks. His performance with the Knicks didn’t disappoint in any way; he pulled off various remarkable feats before he moved on and played for Oklahoma City Thunder, the Atlanta Hawks, and Houston Rockets.
It was sometime in mid-November 2019 that Carmelo Anthony joined the Portland Trail Blazers after being a free agent. It was reported that he signed a non-guaranteed one-year deal with the side.
Apart from his NBA career, Anthony has also played for the US Men’s Basketball Team. With them, he has been to four Olympics (2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016), thereby becoming the first US male basketball player to attain such a feat. Prior to that, he held the record for three straight appearances at the Olympics with David Robinson and LeBron James. He has won three Olympic Gold medals and a Bronze; also, he played at the 2006 World Championship, winning the Bronze medal, and at the Americas Championship where he won the Gold medal.
Members of His Family
Carmelo Anthony is married to the beautiful Alani Nicole Anthony (nee Vazquez) also known as La La Anthony. They got engaged in December 2004 and eventually tied the nuptials in July 2010.
The union was blessed with a son named Kiyan Carmelo Anthony on March 7th, 2007. The family of three lived together on the Upper West Side of New York until 2017 when it was reported that the couple is leaving separately.
Furthermore, it was gathered that La La moved out as a result of the allegation that her husband impregnated another woman.
Although she filed for divorce after that and they seemed to have worked on their marriage. This was not to last as it later emerged in 2019, that they were living apart. She filed for divorce the second time in June 2021 and this time around, the divorce was final. The reason for the divorce was stated as an “irreconcilable difference.”
See Also: Vince Carter Net Worth, Biography, Age, Wife, Son, and Other Facts
Carmelo Anthony’s Net Worth and How He Made It
As stated earlier, Carmelo Anthony’s net worth is $160 million. Now, how did come about this figure?
Well, Carmelo made his money from his earnings in the NBA and from various endorsement deals. For his first 9 years as an NBA player, he grossed a total of $94 million in salaries alone. Also, it has been reported that the basketball player earned $33 million from his salaries and endorsements between 2017 and 2018. As of November 2018, he had earned over $246 million from his NBA salaries. The breakdown is given below:
1. $53 million from the Nuggets
2. $136 million (New York Knicks)
3. $26 million (Oklahoma City Thunder)
4. $25.5 million (Atlanta Hawks)
5. $182,000 (Houston Rockets)
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