Carmelo Anthony

 
"Melo"

Carmelo Kyan Anthony. -
Born: April 29th, 1984, in
New York, NY

Carmelo Anthony's family moved to Baltimore in 1992 where he began winning local basketball awards. Anthony transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, and became a high school All-American. He then played for one season at Syracuse University, playing alonyside star guard Gerry McNamara. He averaged about 20 points and 10 rebounds per game in leading the Orangemen to their first ever NCAA tournament title in 2003.

Carmelo also earned the tournament's Final Four MVP honors--his efforts included a 33 point explosion against Texas in the semi-final, and a solid 20 points and 10 rebounds in the final victory over Kansas, spoiling head coach Roy Williams' final season with the Jayhawks. Afterwards, the overjoyed 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." Anthony chose to abandon his collegiate career and declare himself eligible for the 2003 NBA Draft, where he was chosen 3rd overall by the Nuggets.

In his first year, he averaged 21 points per game and lead the Nuggets to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history, transforming the lowly team into a playoff contender. Anthony narrowly lost Rookie of the Year honors to the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James. He was chosen as a member of the 2004 USA Olympic basketball team.