NBA great Carmelo Anthony is now team owner in Australia’s National Basketball League

Carmelo Anthony is a 10-time NBA All-Star who played 19 seasons in his career. He was with the LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and Trail Blazers. He retired from professional basketball having scored 28,289 career points, making him the ninth-highest scorer in NBA history .

Before joining the NBA, Anthony was quite famous. He led Syracuse to a national title in 2003 as a true freshman before getting drafted later that year by the Denver Nuggets. Before his selection in Denver, the NBA franchise had not reached the playoffs in eight seasons.

However, he changed the fortunes of the team, earning postseason berths for 10 consecutive years after the Carmelo pick. They subsequently earned a trip to the Western Conference finals against Bryant and the Lakers in ’09, according to Sports Illustrated .

At the peak of his career, he finished third in MVP voting in 2013 and also made the All-NBA team six times. He has also been a 10-time All-Star and a four-time Olympian (with three gold medals).

Beyond the NBA, Anthony has quietly built a solid reputation. With a reported net worth of $170 million and counting, he has built his worth from his NBA earnings/savings, investments, and brand endorsements, according to Knickcentral . According to Forbes , he made an estimated $6 million from his endorsement deals. Some of the brands include Jordan, Panini, Isotonix, Powercoco, Footlocker, and Haute Time.

In terms of investment, his portfolios cut across tech to wine. He has stakes in the venture firm, Melo7 Tech Partners; media production firm, Creative 7; fashion label, STAYME7O; and wine brand, The Seventh Estate. In 2018, he invested in Genies, a leading avatar technology company, in a series A funding round. He joined forces with notable athletes such as Kyrie Irving, Ndamukong Suh, and Russell Westbrook.

He also invested in two popular New York City restaurants: Nobody’s Pizza and The Ainsworth. Additionally, he has invested in Overtime, the leading brand for the next generation of sports fans.

According to Andscape , the former NBA player will become the new ambassador of Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) and owner of one of the league’s future expansion teams. The NBL was formed in 1979 and currently has nine teams in Australia and one in New Zealand. Anthony will be a team owner at a date and location to be determined, NBL President Larry Kestelman told Andscape.

“He is someone whose vision for the game is global and has influence to help young players actually succeed and get ready for the big stage of the NBA,” Kestelman told the outlet. “We’re going to work for him to look at the right place, the right team to get involved with, where he can influence a lot of individuals, help them grow, and mentor them on their pathway to the NBA. Couldn’t be more excited.”

Anthony will be a global ambassador for the NBL’s Next Stars program, a one-year fast-track program that began in 2018 and has since produced some NBA draft picks including LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey and Ousmane Dieng.

“The NBA draft is about to happen. So, you’ll start seeing, those pipelines of players coming from the Stars program here to the NBA,” Anthony said. “There is just a lot of excitement around it. I get a chance to be a part of it in a very integral way, in a very pivotal way where we’re opening up doors and connecting players, we’re connecting the game of basketball from a global standpoint.”

Anthony further believes that this new partnership will help his NBA team ownership aspirations. “Now. I want it now,” Anthony said regarding NBA ownership. “And that’s something that I’m working towards as we speak. So, I’m actually excited about those opportunities.”

The NBA great recently announced that he is a cannabis entrepreneur after founding the brand StayMe7o.

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