Carmelo Anthony
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Before the Portland Trail Blazers called, Carmelo Anthony thought his long and storied NBA career was all but over.

The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week almost hung it up before he even had a chance to win the award. Yes, Carmelo Anthony was mulling retirement before the Portland Trail Blazers signed the former New York Knicks legend to a one-year deal.

“I was ready to walk away, yes,” Melo told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. “I mean, cause it’s hard, like waking up every morning not knowing what to expect, not knowing what to do, not knowing what to work on. Wanting to give up hope, wanting to give up faith and belief and just forget this whole basketball thing.”

These are candid words from Anthony but it shouldn’t come as a surprise. He was exiled from the NBA for over a year and the prevailing narrative was that he didn’t have much left to offer any team. Anyone would feel discouraged by that.

However, the Blazers came to Anthony as a desperate team in need of a forward who could score the basketball. So far, Melo has been exactly what the doctor ordered.

Anthony, 35, is averaging 17.7 points on 46.2% shooting from the field and 37.0% from downtown. Not to mention, the future Hall of Famer is chipping in 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game as well.

We’ll see if he can keep this up for a full season, but it’s clear that the narrative that Melo was “done” was overblown. Portland (8-12) will meet the Los Angeles Clippers (15-6) on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET on TNT.

Commercial content writer for Sportradar. Never had the makings of a varsity athlete.