Carmelo Anthony officially retired from the NBA on May 22. It ended a 19-year career as one of the deadliest shooters to ever play in the league. There were many accolades that came alongside Anthony’s career – 10 all-star appearances, and six All-NBA team nominations. Despite Anthony’s talent, the various teams in his career were never quite in title contention. The closest Melo came was in the 2008-09 season, when the Denver Nuggets reached the Western Conference Finals. However, the Nuggets fell to the eventual champion Lakers in six games.
After a stellar career at Syracuse University, which included a national championship in his freshman year, Anthony was the third-overall pick in the 2003 draft. He spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Nuggets. However, Melo was sent to the Knicks in a blockbuster 2011 trade. After six years in New York, Melo was once again traded, this time heading to Oklahoma City. Less than a year later, he was infamously traded to the Hawks only to be waived five days later without ever suiting up for the team. However, the final years of his career were defined by bouncing from team to team. He played what would become his last season with the Lakers in 2021-22.
Jadakiss Honors His "Little Brother" Melo
As Jadakiss began his performance at an Air Jordan event, he played audio from the 2003 NBA Draft, specifically the announcement of Melo going third overall to the Nuggets. Melo was in the crowd. Further posts have shown that Jadakiss is currently in Puerto Rico with Anthony and others.
Of course, Jadakiss and Carmelo Anthony have long been seen in each other's company. An ESPN article from 2006 notes that Jadakiss was in attendance for the launch of the Melo 5.5. In a 2015 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jadakiss referred to Melo as his "little brother". "He was getting snubbed for the All-Star Game a few times early in his career and it was hurting him because he was making it to the playoffs and they were still snubbing him. That’s how me and him sort of got along, we were having a lot of similarities with him in the NBA and me in the industry being overlooked and underrated, and that’s how we clicked. And our birthdays are like a day or two apart, so that made us really link up."
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