Carmelo Anthony Reportedly Has 'Strong' Internal Support for Knicks Jersey Retirement
There is "strong support" within the New York Knicks organization for the retirement of Carmelo Anthony's No. 7 jersey, SNY's Ian Begley reported Wednesday.
Begley first reported in May 2023, the week after Anthony announced his retirement from the NBA, that "there was strong support among some in Madison Square Garden to retire the number."
"In checking around about this over the past couple of weeks, I can say that there remains strong support internally for retiring the number," Begley wrote Wednesday.
Begley noted that he is not certain the Knicks will retire Anthony's number but that "the internal discussions about the topic have continued in recent weeks."
The decision will "ultimately" be up to Knicks owner James Dolan, Begley reported.
Anthony was one of the top scorers in the NBA while playing six and a half seasons with the Knicks, and he is one of just seven players to score at least 10,000 points for the franchise.
He never found playoff success in Manhattan, however, leading the Knicks past the first round just one time in his tenure with the team.
Anthony, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month, told reporters in April he would "love to see" his jersey retired by his former franchise.
"For me, it's like, 'Why wait?' If you got to think about it, then cool. Just let it be," Anthony said.
The Knicks haven't honored a player with a jersey retirement ceremony since 2003, when Patrick Ewing's No. 33 jersey was retired.
The franchise had previously retired eight other jerseys honoring No. 10 Walt Frazier, No. 12 Dick Barnett, No. 15 Dick McGuire, No. 15 Earl Monroe, No. 19 Willis Reed, No. 22 Dave De Busschere and No. 24 Bill Bradley. A No. 613 jersey commemorates the career regular-season wins total of coach Red Holzman.
Of the nine players whose jerseys hang in the rafters at Madison Square Garden, six won championships with the Knicks. The only exceptions are Ewing, who helped the Knicks reach two NBA Finals, and McGuire, who was involved with the franchise in various roles from his playing debut in 1949 to his death in 2010.
Dolan will have to decide if the role Anthony played for the organization, both as a player and through his charitable efforts, is enough to qualify him as the third player in franchise history to earn a jersey retirement without a ring.
