Carmelo Anthony, one of the National Basketball Association’s greatest scorers, has officially announced his retirement. 

He did so through a video tweet earlier this morning with the simple caption, “Thank you #STAYME7O”

Anthony retires as the 9th leading scorer in NBA history, finishing his career with 28,289 points over his 19 seasons after being drafted No. 3 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft.

He played for six teams throughout his career — the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Over his career, Anthony was a 10-time NBA All-Star, a six-time All-NBA player, and a scoring champion. His career averages are 22.5 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, 2.7 assists per game, and 1 steal per game over 1,260 regular season games. 

Last year, he was selected as one of the 75 greatest players in the history of the NBA. 

While he never managed to reach the mountaintop as an NBA champion, Anthony is no stranger to winning. He is a three-time Olympic gold medalist with Team USA Basketball — who holds multiple single-game Olympic records — and also entered the NBA after leading the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team to the NCAA Championship as a freshman. 

Beyond his successes on the court, Anthony has also created a legacy for his work as a social justice advocate. 

In a statement, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, “Carmelo Anthony is one of the NBA’s all-time great players and ambassadors. We congratulate him on a remarkable 19-year career and look forward to seeing him in the Hall of Fame.” 

In 2021, the NBA named him the inaugural winner of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award. 

As an Afro-Latino growing up in the projects of Brooklyn, New York, Anthony often struggled.

He is the son of Carmelo Iriarte, who was a member of the Young Lords of New York during the 1960s and 1970s. Despite passing away when Anthony was just two-years-old, he managed to pick up a lot of his activism and social justice advocacy from him.

After moving to Baltimore as an 8-year-old, Anthony used the game of basketball to help him grow. However, just as important was to help his communities grow, as well. 

“I remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court and a dream of something more,” Anthony said in his retirement video. “But basketball was my outlet. My purpose was strong, my communities, the cities I represented with pride and the fans that supported me along the way. I am forever grateful for those people and places because they made me Carmelo Anthony.”

While he says “a bittersweet goodbye to the NBA,” Anthony is “excited for what the future holds.” 

As Anthony reflects on his legacy, it goes beyond his feats on the court, “nor the awards or the praise.” Instead, it’s his 16-year-old son, Kiyan.

He closed his retirement video by encouraging his son to chase his dreams and allow nothing to hold him back or intervene.

Anthony is likely to be a candidate for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in four years.