A couple of former New York stars, Carmelo Anthony and Odell Beckham Jr., reunited on Thursday night. Beckham Jr.'s Baltimore Ravens welcomed Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals at the M&T Bank Stadium. It's also a homecoming for Anthony, who grew up in Baltimore.
In the video below, Anthony and Beckham linked up on the sidelines before the game. The two were the top stars of the city in the 2010s, with "Melo" repping the New York Knicks from 2011 to 2017. "OBJ", meanwhile, was with the New York Giants from 2014 to 2018.
Other New York sports stars of the decade include Jacob DeGrom of the New York Mets, Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, Eli Manning of the Giants and CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees.
The 2010s was a tough decade, with Manning's 2011 Giants the only team to win a championship.
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Carmelo Anthony was born in Brooklyn, New York and was there until he was eight. Anthony finally returned home in 2011 when he was traded by the Denver Nuggets to the Knicks. He quickly became a fan-favorite in New York, but team success was hard to come by.
In six and a half seasons with the Knicks, they only made the playoffs thrice and only went as far as the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 2013. Anthony was traded to the OKC Thunder in 2017.
Meanwhile, Odell Beckham Jr. took New York by storm as a rookie in 2014 with his highlight reel catches, including a one-handed touchdown grab against the Dallas Cowboys. Some fans and analysts even call it one of the greatest catches in history.
Beckham's career with the Giants ended in 2019 when he was traded to the Cleveland Browns.
He lasted two and a half seasons in Cleveland before signing with the LA Rams midway through the 2021 season. He won his first championship with the Rams that same season.
Carmelo Anthony career in retrospect
Carmelo Anthony was fresh off leading Syracuse University to their first NCAA championship in 2003 when he was taken No. 3 by the Denver Nuggets. He showed early that he was a superstar and turned into one of the best scorers the game has ever seen.
The Nuggets made the playoffs in every full season of Anthony's career there, reaching the Western Conference finals in 2009. He asked for a trade after the Nuggets failed to capitalize on their success. He was dealt to the New York Knicks in early 2011.
As mentioned above, he was loved in New York despite the team's lack of success.
After the Knicks, Anthony bounced around and played for the OKC Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and LA Lakers. He retired in May 2023 and will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
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