Video: Carmelo Anthony Says He Wouldn’t Trade His Olympic Gold Medals for NBA Title

Carmelo Anthony, who retired after 19 NBA seasons without a ring, says he wouldn’t trade his three Olympic gold medals for a title.

“When we talk about global sport, for me a medal means something totally different than an NBA championship,” Anthony told BasketNews’ Donatas Urbonas. “They both have their own separate meanings, but winning a gold medal, it’s the passion, it’s the pride that you have, not just for a city or a state, for a whole nation, for a whole country you’re winning for.

“It’s a different level of, I would say, pride that you have to have when you’re wearing USA across your chest, or you’re wearing Lithuania across your chest. It’s a totally different feeling than Knicks, New York across your chest.”

Anthony is tied for the second-most Olympic gold medals in Team USA men’s basketball history after winning at the 2008 Beijing Games, 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

The former NBA legend said his “proudest moment” of the Olympics came after the gold medal game of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“It was like, this is it,” Anthony said (8:00 mark.) “And I went full circle in international play, and this is it. To be able to put that perspective in, and losing, and winning, you have to grind it back, the journey of getting to that point, where I could just say, okay, I’ve done what I had to do in 16 years.”

Despite spending almost two decades in the NBA, including eight seasons with the Denver Nuggets and seven with the New York Knicks, Anthony never found a similar level of championship success at the professional level.

In 13 trips to the NBA playoffs, Anthony only made it as far as the conference finals, where the Nuggets bowed out to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2009.

Anthony told Urbonas that it was easier to play for Team USA on an international scale, such as during the FIBA Basketball World Cup then known as the FIBA World Championship, than it was to represent teams like the Nuggets or Knicks in the NBA.

“It was less pressure, with FIBA, because I could just play a role, and I didn’t have to try to do something that I didn’t need to try to do out there on the court, because everybody brought what they did best to the table,” Anthony said (5:30 mark.)

“So it was a lot easier for me to play in FIBA internationally, because I could play off of those guys, and just shoot the ball, and rebound, and just have fun and enjoy it, as opposed to, I have to try and do every single thing when I’m playing for my club team, every single night, night in and night out, for eight months in the year. That can be tough.”

Anthony, who retired from the NBA following his 2021-22 season with the Lakers, was present at Bercy Arena in Paris to watch Team USA claim a fifth straight Olympic gold with a 98-87 win over France on Saturday at the 2024 Paris Olympics.