Former 10-time All-Star combo forward Carmelo Anthony may have wrapped up his 19-season playing career for a dismal 33-win Los Angeles Lakers squad in 2021-22, but shooting is the last NBA skill to go for aging players. Could the 40-year-old sharpshooter, who officially retired last summer, still have some juice left in the tank?

The future Hall of Famer addressed whether he’d ever return to the league in a fresh conversation on his podcast “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero.”

“I don’t get the itch going to games, though,” Anthony noted. “If I’m in the gym, training, I’ll get the itch. The process of getting ready for a professional game is so strenuous. If I was to come back, where are you gonna put me at? You ain’t gonna put me in the first ten of the rotation. I’m busy; I still work with my son, and I’m still active. I just don’t have to think about tapping into that realm of preparation.” 

The 6-foot-7 wing out of Syracuse was one of the few happy storylines of an otherwise deeply miserable nadir season for his longtime buddy LeBron James’ Lakers tenure so far. Anthony, a six-time All-NBA Teamer and one-time league scoring champ, wrapped up his career as a key bench power forward for an aging L.A. squad.

Across 69 games (three starts) for L.A. during ex-head coach Frank Vogel’s final season with the squad, Anthony averaged 13.3 points while slashing .441/.375/.830, 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.7 steals in 26.0 minutes per.

The 40-year-old would replace James as the league’s oldest active player if he does return. That season’s Lakers squad was littered with aging former All-Stars, from Anthony to Russell Westbrook to Rajon Rondo to Dwight Howard to DeAndre Jordan. But the club was deeply unathletic and, outside of a few bright spots like Anthony, was a poor 3-point shooting or defensive squad. Several players, not just Anthony, never played in the NBA again after that ignominious year.

Anthony was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, behind James and zero-time All-Star center Darko Milicic, but ahead of fellow future Hall of Famers Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, plus future All-Stars Chris Kaman, David West, Mo Williams and Kyle Korver. He never made a Finals, but his prolific legacy remains secure.

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