Knicks icon Carmelo Anthony is (almost) a HOFer. Will No. 7 be retired next?

Stay Melo!

Carmelo Anthony is a controversial person around these parts. Carmelo Anthony is also closer than ever to call himself a Hall of Famer.

That’s because Melo has been named a finalist for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2025 class, in what is simply a mere formality before he gets his name written for good in gold letters into the book of hoops eternity.

A 10-time All-Star, a former NBA scoring champion, and one of the most dominant offensive players of his era, Anthony is widely considered a lock for enshrinement we all always knew he would eventually get there—was a matter of when, not if.

Now, when it comes to New York Knicks fans, Anthony’s Hall of Fame recognition will obviously bring back discussions about his legacy, whether or not he did enough to be considered a legitimate Knick or if he’s more of a Denver Nugget, and the most heated debate of them all…

Will the Knicks ever raise Melo’s No. 7 to the rafters of MSG?

After forcing—yes, forcing; it was what it was—his way to New York in 2011 instead of waiting a few months to arrive in Manhattan as a free agent, Melo became the face of the franchise for seven seasons, delivering all sorts of highlight-reel performances and restoring excitement to Madison Square Garden, bringing the Knicks back to relative contention for the first time since the mid-to-late 90s.

In his time with the Knicks, Anthony led New York to three consecutive postseasons from 2011 through 2013 averaging 24.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and one steal per game while shooting 44.3% from the field and 36.9% from three.

Anthony never failed to make the All-Star game as a member of the Knicks (he was traded to New York right after the 2011 edition he missed), making the ASG six consecutive times while also getting named into two All-NBA Second Teams. Melo won the NBA scoring title in 2013 with a sublime 28.7 points-per-game figure, and he led the league in minutes per game one year later averaging a silly 38.7 under coach Mike Woodson.

That 2012-13 season remains the peak of the Carmelo era in New York, even though he only appeared in 67 regular-season games.

Anthony led the Knicks to 54 wins—their highest total since 1997 and counting—and their only playoff series victory in over two decades. However, that postseason ended in an infamous second-round loss to the Indiana Pacers, preventing what many hoped would be a deep playoff run and marking the beginning of the franchise’s decline into a very deep, long, and dark abysm—what can I tell you—the team just only started recovering from at the start of this decade.

There’s no arguing Anthony’s time with the Knicks was defined by instability, a lack of steadiness, too much regular-season braggadocio, and little postseason production. And still.

Over seven seasons, all the Knicks brass did was hand Melo four different head coaches and more than 70 different teammates, which most definitely didn’t help him just one bit in putting the team over the proverbial hump, no matter how hard the poor dude tried.

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Anthony’s tenure will always remain a point of contention among Knicks fans, but there’s no denying the good he did for the organization considering where the franchise was coming from (one postseason appearance and no series won in the nine years before his arrival) and its sudden turn into a playoffs threat (back-to-back-to-back playoffs to better or worse results).

Some of us see him as one of the sport and franchise’s all-time greats. Others find reasonable arguments that his inability to lift the team beyond the second round of the playoffs will always keep him from true legendary status in the Orange & Blue books.

That’s cool, and that obviously will lead to the never-for-now-ending debate of whether or not the Knicks should/will retire his No. 7 jersey, which is inevitably going to reach a conclusion that will split the fanbase once again at some point in the next few years.

New York has only retired 10 numbers in its long history in what is a mad select club, which doesn’t work in Anthony’s favor. That said, considering the relatively short time Melo spent in New York (412 regular-season games compared to Patrick Ewing’s franchise-leading 1,039, Walt Frazier’s 759, etc… for context), he accomplished a hell of a lot of personal accolades within the franchise as well as lifting the team as a whole.

Melo wrapped up his Knicks stint ranked 10th in field goals made among NYK players, third in three-pointers, ninth in freebies, 10th in offensive rebounds, seventh in defensive boards, and perhaps most importantly, seventh in total points scored.

Anthony is the latest Knick to score 10K+ points with the franchise, something only Ewing, Frazier, Willis Reed, Allan Houston, Carl Braun, and Richie Guerin had done before.

“He’s one of the great players, ever. Really. A tough guard. Can shoot. Good size. Athletic. And carried a franchise in Denver for a long time, went to New York. Always a tough cover, so you had to game-plan for him every night,” Miami Heat president Pat Riley told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “And had a great career.

“I think from the standpoint of what they call small forwards, he wasn’t just that. He can play small forward, sure. He can play power forward. Back then, we were more positional. He could play the 2-guard. Today, he’d be playing 5. That’s just the way the game has grown.

“But he deserves it. I hope he makes it.”

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Jerry Colangelo, former director of USA Basketball, highlighted Anthony’s international dominance, pointing out that he was Team USA’s all-time Olympic scoring leader until Kevin Durant broke the record last summer.

“The nuances of the international game, the 3-point distance being a little bit less, the pace of the game—he was cut out to be a great international player,” Colangelo said. “With his great skill of scoring, we went to him a lot. He had the ability to shoot anytime he wanted to because most of the time, he’s going to score. He had a few games where, in my mind, he didn’t miss any shots.”

Anthony also led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in 2003 as a true freshman, cementing his status as a college basketball legend. His three Olympic gold medals are only topped by KD’s four and his dominance while with Team USA got him the very apt nickname “Olympics Melo.”

Anthony is one of four former NBA players named as finalists for the 2025 Hall of Fame class, alongside Dwight Howard, Marques Johnson, and Buck Williams. The 2008 U.S. men’s Olympic “Redeem Team” was also named as a finalist.