Carmelo Anthony Quotes
Carmelo Anthony's NBA Draft declaration
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Manley Field House, Syracuse, N.Y.
Carmelo Anthony
Opening statement:
"First of all I just want to thank my coaching staff, and my teammates and the whole Syracuse program for allowing me to just come here and just do one year. I know a lot of coaches wouldn’t have kept a player just for one year. So I just wanted to give all my thanks to Coach Boeheim for taking me in and bringing me in as one of his family members. He treated me like a son this year. I really want to thank him a lot.
"I’m here in front of you today to announce that I will not be coming back next year. I will be moving on to the pros."
On what went in to making his decision:
"When I was at home, I sat down with my mom. It was a big decision for me to make. She said that if it was something I really wanted to do then… I sat down with Coach Boeheim and… Basically, I really don’t want to leave, to be honest with you. We won a national championship. I don’t know, we didn’t lose. We won a national championship. I brought Coach Boeheim what he was waiting for for 27 years.
On who and what influenced his decision:
"My decision is final. I just made my decision that I wasn’t coming back. I sat down with my teammates, and they were kind of sad when I said I was leaving. It’s a tough decision for me to make.
On what was going through his mind:
"I have to get ready for the next level. I have to start working out now, get my body right."
On what he was going to miss the most:
"My teammates. They brought me up for one year. Even when I was down, they brought me back up and when they were down I brought them back up. We were like a family out there."
On Boeheim’s praise:
"It makes me feel proud about all I’ve done. I brought a lot out of the community, not just Syracuse University. I think I brought the community back and put them where they wanted to be at. They’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Everywhere I go, they say they’ve been waiting for this for a long time."
On what he will miss about Syracuse:
"Just being here. Playing for Coach Boeheim and Troy Weaver and Coach Hop, and just being around my teammates. My teammates - I’m going to miss them so much."
On his expectations:
"Right now I don’t have any expectations. Just to go in there and hopefully I’ll play as soon as I get there and hopefully get in the situation with a team where I’ll be taken into a family like this one."
On the significance of his one year of college experience on his NBA career:
"I got one year of experience. If I had gone right from high school to the NBA I probably wouldn’t be playing right now. I’d probably be struggling up there. I got a national championship out of it too."
On how much he improved this year:
"It’s hard to judge myself. But I got a lot of improving to do. Nobody ever said I was perfect so I got a lot to work on."
On what he offers to an NBA team:
"The same things I offered here. I’m a leader. I’m probably one of the best teammates. I was there for my teammates when they needed me, on and off the court."
On why he decided to leave:
"I have to move on. We won a national championship. I don’t want to make it sound bad but there’s really nothing more I could get out of college. I came here for a year, and I’m still going to get my degree. I won the Big East regular season, I won the championship. I won Rookie of the Year for the Big East and for the nation. So really there isn’t much more left."
On his education:
"I’m going to get my degree. You can quote me on that."
On the financial perks of playing in the NBA:
"Moving on is the opportunity to take care of my family, something I’ve always wanted to do. Growing up I always wanted to be the one to take care of my family. Now I have the opportunity to do that."
