Carmelo Anthony Biography

Biography: Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Kyan Anthony was born in May 29, 1984; his father was Puerto Rican and his mother was African American. Carmelo was named after his dad who had died due to cancer when he was only two years old. Carmelo and his family lived in Friona, Texas for two years before they moved to Baltimore in 1992. The family lived in the Druid Hill section of West Baltimore, which is where he began playing the game of basketball. During the summer of 2000, he grew five inches and started to make a name for himself in the town by winning the 2001 Baltimore Sun's metro player of the year, as well as Baltimore Catholic League player of the year.

After a very successful high school career, Carmelo attended Syracuse University; where he had an excellent season. During his first year at college, he averaged 22.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game leading his team its first ever NCAA tournament title in 2003. He also won the tournament's Final Four MVP award; his head coach said that he was by far the best player in college basketball. Because he had already accomplished everything he set out to do in college, he chose to leave and declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft, where he was chosen third overall by the Denver Nuggets.

In his first year of the NBA, Carmelo averaged 21 points per game and led his team to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history, making a previously bad team into a playoff contender. Carmelo narrowly lost Rookie of the Year honors to the LeBron James. The following year, he was picked as a player on the 2004 USA Olympic basketball team and the 2006 FIBA tournament, where he set a new record of 35 points against Italy