All-Star Former Blazer Wants to Own an NBA Team

This ex-Portland standout is looking to the next phase of his league life.

Mar 19, 2021; Portland, Oregon, USA; (L-R) Portland Trail Blazers Damian Lillard (0), CJ McCollum (3) and Carmelo Anthony (00) walk back to the court after a timeout during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports / Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Future first-ballot Hall of Fame combo forward Carmelo Anthony has already enjoyed an active career beyond the hardwood, since retiring from the league after his 2021-22 season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 6-foot-7 Syracuse product suited up for the Portland Trail Blazers from 2019-21 and was so good as a bench sharpshooter that he finished seventh in Sixth Man fo the Year voting during his second year with the club.

Anthony has started a must-listen new hoops-centric podcast alongside comedian/personality The Kid Mero, "7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero," and has moonlit as something of an unofficial Team USA basketball head coach, yelling out plays from his courtside seats during this summer's 2024 Paris Olympics.

Now, Anthony reveals that he has his sights set on a grander scheme: NBA ownership.

A 10-time All-Star while with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, Anthony earned $262,523,093 just on the court during his career. Given that he played in one of the country's two media meccas, on one of its most valuable teams in the New York Knicks, he certainly must have netted a pretty penny off it, too. Anthony is still a reliable presence in commercials to this day, two seasons removed from calling it a career. Still, with even the Charlotte Hornets fetching multiple billions now, Anthony is striving to put together money to make a bid. His fellow 2003 NBA Draftee-turned-Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, a longtime friend whom Anthony played alongside in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, already owns a stake in the Utah Jazz.

"That's how you create what they're talking about, generational [wealth]. I’m out there trying to raise money now, trying to raise money with my sports fund, I've been traveling the world,” Anthony revealed. “It’s hard to raise money... And getting people to understand what sports is. It’s so much money being spent into sports, and people really don’t understand it. People really don’t understand sports... [The NBA] is a small piece of sports globally. A small piece in the grand scheme of things. This is one market… That’s North America, they control basketball, but it’s like, they going global with it.”

During his Portland run, Anthony averaged 14.3 points on .425/.399/.867 shooting splits, 4.6 rebounds, 1.5 dimes, 0.7 swipes and 0.5 rejections, in his age-35 and age-36 seasons. He was a critical role player in service to backcourt stars Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

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