Carmelo Anthony: I plan on retiring with New York Knicks

There were times this summer when it seemed likely that Carmelo Anthony would leave the New York Knicks for the Chicago Bulls or Houston Rockets. But Anthony didn’t. He re-signed with New York for five years on a near-maximum contract.

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More good news for the Knicks: Anthony doesn’t ever plan on leaving.

From Fred Kerber of the New York Post:

"“I plan on ending my career here, so it wasn’t for me to go out there and try to strike a two-year deal and then have to go through this situation in two years. I’m not doing that ever again. I would never do that again. I would advise no one to ever do that,” Anthony said. “I experienced it and it’s behind me.”"

Anthony has now been with the Knicks for three-and-a-half seasons. Starting over someplace, even with a contender such as the Bulls, didn’t appeal to him.

"“I just felt if I was to leave, I would have to … build that foundation up once again, and it took me a while to build that foundation and to get it up and going to where it’s at right now,” Anthony said."

Some might argue that Anthony hasn’t done a great job of building a “foundation” with the Knicks. This is a team that won 37 games this past season, a year after winning 55 and heading into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed.

Regardless, the Knicks have their guy for now and the foreseeable future.

Anthony averaged 27.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season.

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