“Love you champ! Keep going” - LeBron James with a message for Carmelo Anthony as the LA Lakers teammates reach significant milestones in year 19

Today marks Carmelo Anthony's 19 years of actively playing in the NBA. The former Syracuse star, who began his entry into the league as the third overall selection picked by the Denver Nuggets in 2003, now has one of the longest careers in NBA history.

Teammate and friend LeBron James took to his Instagram story to celebrate the LA Lakers' power forward on attaining such a milestone while sharing a Lakers post.

“Love you champ! Keep going."

The post was published by the Lakers on their official Instagram account, where they congratulated Carmelo Anthony on hitting this significant milestone. They also celebrated LBJ for recording 100 career triple-doubles. The publication shared a clip of King James congratulating and cheering Melo on and Melo returning the favor.

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How Carmelo Anthony has fared so far

Carmelo Anthony #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers controls the ball in front of Romeo Langford #9 of the Boston Celtics during the first half at Staples Center on December 07, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.

Carmelo Anthony started his career with the Denver Nuggets aged 19. He led the Nuggets to the playoffs for seven consecutive years. And went on to spend 8 seasons with the Nuggets before moving on to the New York Knicks for the 2010-11 NBA season.

In the 2012-13 regular season, he finished with 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, becoming the scoring champion of the season. However, he had a career-high in the 2006-07 season, posting 28.9 points for the Nuggets.

The 10-time All-Star made it to the All-Star team for all 7 seasons he was with New York, averaging 24.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Knicks during that time.

In the past 6 years, Carmelo Anthony has played for 5 different franchises - the New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and, more recently, the LA Lakers. He played the least number of games with the Rockets (10).

His move to the Lakers has seen him garner more attention, which has also reflected on his game. He has starred in all 27 games for the Lakers, mostly coming off the bench as he has recorded only 3 starts.

His season-high so far has been in the game against the Charlotte Hornets on November 8. Carmelo Anthony posted 29 points, 3 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block to help the Lakers secure a 3-point victory. He currently averages 13.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists.

It has been rumored that this might be his final season in the NBA. But Melo sure looks like he has a few more years in him to offer the game.

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