Carmelo+Anthony

Carmelo Iriarte Anthony was born on May 29, 1984, in New York City, New York. He was named after his father, who died of liver failure before Carmelo ’s third birthday. That left Carmelo’s mother, Mary, on her own to raise her infant son and his three older siblings. Mary worked long hours as a #|housekeeper to support her family. Carmelo’s brothers and sisters were all much older than him, so they helped out looking after their younger brother. He absolutely loved basketball—both the college game and the pros. At the time, the Big East Conference was one of the nation’s best, with big-time players like Eric Murdock, Malik Sealy, Alonzo Mourning, Terry Dehere and Donyell Marshall.

The Knicks, meanwhile, were developing into a championship contender behind Georgetown grad Patrick Ewing. For Carmelo, there was nothing better than when spring rolled around each year. First he would gorge himself on March Madness, and then he would turn his attention to the NBA playoffs. When Carmelo was eight, his siblings were ready to move out. Mary headed to Baltimore with her youngest son. They settled in a neighborhood on the city’s west side known as “The Pharmacy”—which years later was made famous as the setting for HBO’s “The Wire.” It was no safer when Carmelo and his mom lived there. Crime and drugs could be found on every corner. Mary possessed a powerful tool in her attempts to keep Carmelo out of trouble. If he stepped out of line even slightly, he wasn’t allowed anywhere near a basketball court. Early in his hoops #|career, Carmelo was not a standout player. Though he was crazy about basketball and worked hard on his game, he was of average height and build, even at his original position of point guard. Carmelo entered Towson Catholic High School in the fall of 1998 and was promptly cut from the varsity hoops team. The 45-minute commute he had to make each day hardly seemed worth it anymore. Everything changed during the summer of 1999. Carmelo shot up five inches and suddenly became one of the area’s top players. The ballhandling skills and jump shot he had honed as a guard were much more dangerous packed into the frame of a 6-5 swingman. Carmelo wasn’t afraid to mix it up in the paint, either. Against tough competition in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Catholic League, the sophomore more than held his own. For the season, he averaged 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Towson Catholic surged to a record of 26-3 and finished third in the state tournament. Carmelo Anthony was part of the 2003 draft picks super trio which included LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Over the past three years he has took the NBA by storm establishing himself in the small forward position for the Denver Nuggets with a current high points score of 45 against the Philadelphia 76ers. His successes on the court have resulted in lucrative deals off the court including major sponsorship deals with Nike and Michael Jordan's Shoes and Apparel line.

Carmelo Anthony was born on May 29, 1984, in Brooklyn, New York and has three older siblings. His father died from liver disease when he was only three years old and he was thereafter raised solely by his mother who he moved to Baltimore with when he was eight.
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By 1992 he was winning local basketball awards and by 1999 he had grown to an impressive 6"5 and was the best basketball player in his area. At Oak Hill Academy in Virginia he became a high school All-American before he attended #|Syracuse University where he led the team in scoring and rebounding maintaining a season average of 22.2 points per game. After the close of the season #|Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim described Anthony as, "...by far, the best player in college basketball. It wasn't even close. Nobody was even close to him last year in college basketball. That's the bottom line." It was a sign of things to come. Feeling ready to move on, rather than continuing his collegiate #|career he declared himself for the 2003 NBA Draft and ended up 3rd overall choice for the Nuggets. Just in front of him were LeBron James as 1st overall for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Darko Milicic who was 2nd overall choice for the Detroit Pistons. With the addition of Anthony, the Nuggets underwent an extreme transformation from a non-competitive side to playoff contenders. With an average of 21 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game Carmelo just lost Rookie of the Year honors to the Cavaliers' LeBron James. He did, however, win himself a spot on the 2004 USA Olympic basketball team alongside him. As he has made his mark on the basketball court his celebrity status off of it has also increased. In 2004 he was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher and in 2005 made a cameo appearance on singer Ciara's single, And I. At only 22 his future in and out of the NBA is a bright one and many already consider him to be laying his stake to the NBA Hall of Fame and Slam Magazine's All Time Greatest Basketball Players List. With his supreme basketball instincts and impeccable court vision you may want to watch this space!