Carmelo Anthony

Small forward Carmelo Anthony was a top scorer and star attraction of the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets from 2003 to 2011, when he was traded to the New York Knicks. Anthony made a name for himself as a college player, leading New York's Syracuse University to their first NCAA championship in 2003. After only one season at Syracuse he jumped to the pros, and in June of 2003 he was drafted third overall by Denver. In his first years as a pro, Anthony's reputation as a weak defender was overshadowed by his talent as a big-scoring clutch player. Although Anthony lost the Rookie of the Year award to LeBron James and got skipped over for the All-Star team, he went to Athens in 2004 and won a bronze medal as a member of the U.S. Olympic team (a team that included James, Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade). Off the court he made headlines for a nightclub scuffle, an underground video that linked him to a drug dealer and his own drug bust (a charge of marijuana possession that was later dropped). With such nettlesome episodes behind him, "Melo" entered the 2006 season with a solid reputation as a scoring leader and one of the NBA's stars. In December of 2006, however, he found himself in hot water once again for his part in an on-court brawl between the Nuggets and the New York Knicks. One of seven players to be disciplined, Anthony drew the stiffest penalty -- a 15-game suspension -- for punching Knicks player Mardy Collins in the face. After refusing a three-year extension in 2010 from Denver, Anthony was traded to New York.