Carmelo Anthony has become the latest NBA star to join forces with the NBL’s Next Star program, signing on as an ambassador and also becoming a future expansion team owner.
Anthony, 40, enjoyed a storied NBA career, including being named a 10-time All Star, and a six-time All-NBA selection, primarily with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, and he will now play a key role in facilitating the next generation of stars to enter the league via the NBL.
The Next Stars program, which has produced players such as LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey, and presumptive 2024 first overall pick Alex Sarr, had recently added former NBA player and Inside the NBA host Kenny Smith as the program’s Head of Next Stars Player Initiatives in North America, with Anthony’s latest appointment another major step for the Australian initiative.
Carmelo Anthony joins NBL Next Stars
Anthony, who himself attended Syracuse University before being drafted third overall in 2003, said in a statement that he was inspired to get involved with the NBL due to the growing nature of international basketball, and his willingness to facilitate this growth.
“In joining the NBL, I’m excited for the opportunity to not just elevate basketball in Australia, but to impact the global landscape of the sport,” he said.
“The recent pipeline of talent that has come out of the NBL and into the NBA has been extremely impressive, and the Next Stars program is a prime example of the league’s commitment to nurturing talent and cultivating elite players. I look forward to working with the League to help play a role in shaping the future of basketball worldwide.”
NBL Owner Larry Kesstleman also celebrated Anthony’s newfound involvement in the league, saying that it helps to legitimise the Australian competition.
“This is a huge statement of confidence in what this League is all about and especially over the last 10 years what’s been achieved by myself and our team since taking ownership of the League,” Kesstlemen said.
“I’m so proud that we have a global superstar like Carmelo Anthony joining the program. His job is to help us promote the Next Stars program, help us attract the right talent, but also with the vision of him being a part owner of a future expansion team. The credibility that brings and the global exposure that brings to the League cannot be understated.
“The NBL is already regarded as the second best domestic league in the world and for us to be more global and more relevant, and presented in the right light to the world, I think Carmelo will absolutely no doubt do an amazing job at that.
“This League is growing from strength to strength and this new announcement signals the arrival of the NBL, not just in the local market, but our ambitions to be a more global league and without a doubt, the best pathway to the NBA.”
Will Kiyan Anthony play in the NBL?
Carmelo Anthony’s timing in signing on as an ambassador for the NBL Next Stars comes a year before his son Kiyan Anthony makes his post high-school commitment.
Anthony the younger has recieved confirmed offers from six universities, including his father’s alma mater Syracuse, but he could also sign to the NBL as a Next Star.
While no decision has yet been made regarding Kiyan’s future, Carmelo said that for now their priority was ensuring his son’s development and enjoying his young career.
“I’m taking it day to day. For one, I’m allowing the information, the access and the landscape to play itself out where he can just play basketball and have fun. That’s my thing: I want him to enjoy this moment. He’s supposed to be enjoying high school. He’s supposed to be enjoying AAU. He’s supposed to enjoying being a 16-, 17-year-old kid. Basketball, the business side of it, shouldn’t weigh more than the love of it. What he has done now is he has actually fallen in love with the game of basketball,” Anthony told Andscape.
“A lot of people’s motivation is money. That’s unfortunate. But it’s also fortunate, too. In those situations, I had to say, ‘I got to get out of [Baltimore].’ My situation was different. That was motivational. It was unfortunate that was what I had to do to get out, but it was fortunate that I had something to actually look forward to. Him, that is not his why. He has a different why. You don’t have to deal with the things that I had to deal with.”