NBA Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony is putting the spotlight on Baltimore. Although he’s known for playing in Denver and New York, he grew up in Charm City and never forgets it, which is exemplified in his new venture, a curated exhibit on display at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in the heart of Baltimore.
In conjunction with the exhibit is a contest. Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland is hosting the “Piece of Melo” Bet Blueprint Contest. Leading up to the House of Melo exhibit’s opening to the public on Oct. 25 at the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Central location, people can enter to win autographed commemorative pieces and artifacts from Carmelo Anthony’s extensive contributions as an athlete, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Visit the Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland’s Instagram account for a weekly chance to enter to win a unique item. To enter, you must be 21 or older and share a story about a time you bet on yourself in the contest post’s comments. Items will be distributed to winners after the exhibit concludes. The weekly winners will be eligible for a $5,000 cash prize, intended to serve as extra fuel to bet big on their dreams, inspired by Carmelo Anthony’s unapologetic approach not just to chase dreams, but make them a reality time and time again.
What are the items from the contest?
Example items included in the contest are his 2023 National Championship basketball, a first edition Sports Illustrated issue featuring Carmelo, a copy of his memoir, Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised, limited edition House of Melo clothing, and a trio pack of House of Melo collector library cards. Ahead of the exhibit’s opening, Blavity spoke with the NBA All-Star on his journey thus far and why this exhibit and Baltimore are special.
Blavity: We know that you have roots in Baltimore, but many people associate you with New York. Why choose Baltimore out of all places?
Carmelo Anthony: That’s always kind of been the case. A lot of my work in Baltimore has been done, never stopped being done, since I’ve left Baltimore to go to the NBA. A lot of my work has been quiet and behind the scenes. Some have been loud in Baltimore; some have been more quiet. But the work has always been there. That’s always been my focus on trying to figure out what I could possibly do to make an impact in Baltimore. I know I make an impact through sports and doing stuff in the community and giving back. I know I make that type of impact, but, as a city, on a global stage, how can I make that impact? How can I bring awareness to Baltimore? And I just think now is the time that everybody needs to take back their own community. And for me, that’s how I’m approaching this. The idea is to take back our community. If everybody can do that, we all would be good. If everybody could get back to their community and do that, instead of worrying about everybody else communicating. We have to start in our own backyard. Going back to Baltimore at this time, after retirement, the celebration of my Hall of Fame induction — it’s a celebration for the city of Baltimore and the people. I just think everything works on divine timing.
Before we get into the exhibit, what do you think makes Baltimore special?
CA: Man, I just think the roots, I think the identity of Baltimore, I think the culture, the community. I think all of that — the grit and the grind of Baltimore, it’s so much in Baltimore that I think people overlook Baltimore in a sense. For me, it’s just about trying to bring back that soulfulness — whether it’s through arts, whether it’s through music, whether it’s through food, wine, with storytelling; whatever it is, I’m ready to do that.
Now, how did this specific partnership come to be? What artifacts are going to be on display at the library?
There’s so much that’s happening with that. For one, we’re talking about taking the fans, or the people who will be visiting the library — the kids or whoever — through a journey and through a timeline of my life from the summer of 1992, which is the second that I stepped into Baltimore at 7, 8 years old, until now. The idea of this exhibit is just showing people that your environment doesn’t define exactly who you are. We all go through stuff, but I want everybody to see me going through what I went through and being successful, whether in basketball and business or fatherhood — all of these stories, it plays a part in that legacy, and I just think Baltimore, knowing that that’s where it kind of began for me and shaped kind of my toughness and hunger and perspective, survival, perseverance — that’s what Baltimore did for me.
Was the contest your idea, or was this a collaborative effort?
CA: This was at the top of my mind. I figured that I wanted to do something that’s very impactful, that hasn’t been done in Baltimore before. We see a lot of these things happening in New York and in the big cities, but for me to bring something like this back to Baltimore, I really was thinking about what is the impact that I could make. How can I create something that appeals to everyone? I want everybody to enjoy this.
The underlying purpose of the contest is the idea of getting people to bet on themselves, which is something that you’ve always done. We’re living in an interesting time. Morale can be down at times, but what are your words of encouragement for your fans or anyone who watches you or will see this exhibit, to help them continue to live by that motto despite current circumstances?
CA: This is an ode to my city. This is my way of giving back and showing people that it is possible at the end of the day to get up out of this environment. And here’s how I did it, and here’s what this looked like; you can actually walk through that via this exhibit. And so the contest is very important because it allows people to get together and really understand what this really is about, to be engaged. There’s a lot of information to take in and some interaction that everyone will enjoy.
This exhibit is being launched fresh off your induction into the Hall of Fame. Congratulations! Taking us back to your early days in basketball, was the Hall of Fame always the goal? Or was the goal to make it to the NBA and be the best player that you could be? Did you have that foresight?
CA: Well, making it to the NBA was always far-fetched. I never thought that I could make it to the NBA from where we are from. That was never even a thought. And then as you start to get closer to that, it’s like, ‘Holy s**t, OK, this is an opportunity. We might have a shot.’ And you start taking it a little bit more seriously, and you start understanding that it is reachable, that this goal is reachable now. You ask yourself, ‘Will I reach it?’ Who knows? But this goal is reachable, and it’s up to me to reach that goal. So, that mindset has been there since I was young, but I never thought about making it to the NBA; that wasn’t even a part of my day-to-day thought processes. It just wasn’t.
So, going from the NBA to being this All-Star player, this world-renowned superstar, and now being in the Hall of Fame, are you proud of yourself? Have you taken time to bask in the moment, enjoy it, and allow yourself to be given your flowers?
CA: It’s hard to bask in a moment. I’ve tried to take time out to give it perspective and understand what this is, and give myself some grace when it comes to that. It’s difficult, but I try to allow myself to just take a moment and do that because you’re talking about reflecting back on not just 19, 20 years in the NBA, but you’re talking about reflecting on 40 years. That’s a lot to reflect on. I’ve been playing basketball since I was 8, 9 years old. So it’s so many different experiences that come from that. So, to have time to sit back and reflect on that is very difficult, especially with the way that I move, but I try to force myself to just take some time out and just try to reflect on it.
I can imagine that it’s also a crazy full-circle moment now that your son was there next to you, both of your children, but especially your son, with him following in your footsteps and attending your alma mater. He was there to witness this moment. How is that to be able to share that with your family, especially when you pass the torch along to the next Anthony in the game?
CA: It’s amazing. It’s amazing to know that I was able to just shut one door and another door opens. That’s the best feeling. But to also see my son doing it in the right way and not cutting any corners, and going through the process, and going through the journey, and whatever happens through that, it happens, but we are going to go about this the right way, and are going to do it the right way. But to see him taking that and running with it, and not even running with it, he’s walking with it; he’s taking care of the torch. And that’s the only thing you can ask for.
That’s actually a good segue into my next question, because you speak about him doing things the right way. What wisdom do you impart on him in the game and beyond in terms of him maintaining a career and professionalism in a time where, obviously, we live in a digital age? It’s a lot different from when you started. So, the spotlight is magnified, and there’s a lot of chaos. My favorite term is that people in this day and age are exploited and rewarded for bad behavior. But he seems like he’s on the right track. What are those conversations like as someone who managed to be in the game for 19, 20 years?
CA: My advice to him is, I have to talk to him like a young man. I have to talk to him, of course, about the issues and what’s going on in life today, and the conversations that, for myself, that I had to have with my parents, or my brothers, or friends that’s outside, or older people. … It took a while to have those conversations in my life. Whereas with my son, I had to have those conversations with him earlier due to the fact that we do live in a social media era. It’s a different way of dealing with things, a different way of receiving, and you have to have a different perspective on things. So I just wanted to continue to know those conversations that I had growing up, and conversations that I had with him when I was 10, 11 years old. In most situations, I probably wouldn’t have that conversation until he was 15, 16, 17 years old. But he’s gotten those conversations a lot earlier than the average person because he isn’t the average kid in our society. For me, it’s about honesty.
What would you say is next for you professionally? I’ve spoken to several retired athletes, and I know that life after sports can be tricky. But many have managed to find success and happiness outside of the game. We see many of them expand their business profiles, whether that’s through entertainment or food and beverage. What are your interests outside of what you’re doing now in terms of charity? What are your other professional goals?
CA: For me, it’s about doing things that I enjoy doing. I have my wine company, VII(N) The Seventh Estate wine collections. I have my cigar company. I have a cannabis company, STAYME7O™ Couture Cannabis. I have a production company. I have a studio. So it’s a plethora of things. It’s just a matter of building those things, and I think now it’s just me being in the development phase for a lot of things, and we can just grow from there. But it’s so much that’s going on, but it’s all relative to one another. One hand kind of washes the other, and it’s all part of the same kind of story. That whole Stay Melo mindset is a lifestyle. It’s wellness. It all kind of plays a part of a bigger mission. So, I would like to say I’m quite busy. I am not complaining about it, but it’s a lot to try to build brands and have an entrepreneurial mindset, as opposed to going out there and allowing somebody else to do it for you.
Returning to the contest and this exhibit, you mentioned that people have been following your journey since the age of 8. What are some of the highlights within this exhibit that you are most proud of? If three things come to mind that define Carmelo, what would you say they are that fans will be able to see?
CA: For one, graduating from high school. I know that sounds crazy, but where I grew up, in our community, we don’t graduate from high school. We don’t graduate from middle school. So when I did that, it was a major deal. It’s something I want people to see because even though Syracuse University and championships and all of the NBA success, I understand there was an impact made there. Even being drafted as someone coming in from Baltimore City. None of that matters if I had not actually graduated from high school. That was a big moment for myself, and my family and friends. I really want people to take in that moment and how big of a moment that was, not for myself, but my community and the whole city.
I think the Hall of Fame was a big moment. I think jumping from being drafted to being inducted into the Hall of Fame, that’s like opening and closing a book. That’s how I look at it. And also, of course, fatherhood, which is what I am most proud of.