Carmelo Anthony joins Fiba Basketball World Cup 2023 list of ambassadors. –FIBA
MANILA, Philippines — Team USA legend and NBA star Carmelo Anthony has been named as one of the global ambassadors for the Fiba World Cup 2023 co-hosted by the Philippines.
Anthony, the most prolific member of Team USA, was formally introduced on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum as an ambassador for the world championship in August, joining Spain’s Pau Gasol and Argentina’s Luis Scola.
The 38-year-old forward is the first US national team member to win three gold medals in the Olympics. He is also the squad’s career leader in scoring, rebounding and most games played with 31.
“It’s a full circle. I’ve been a part of FIBA basketball since the early 2000s and to come back full circle now and be the ambassador for the World Cup. This is definitely an honor, it’s a blessing. It’s been a long time coming. But for me is just about being able to build nations together,” Anthony said. “Bring people together and bring countries together through one common theme, which is basketball. That’s why I love to build, with the kids and the next generation, but also globally, internationally getting a chance to really make an imprint and put an imprint. Put an imprint on a global diversity of basketball.”
Anthony, along with fellow NBA stalwarts Gasol and Scola, will be promoting the World Cup, which will be held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.
“I’m glad we’re not competing no more. We’re actually on the same side. We’re on the same team now. We are representing the global game of basketball. So I don’t have to worry about going up against Pau and then thinking about him and the gold medal game or Luis Scola down there in Argentina and with those guys, how they wanted to beat us so badly,” Anthony said. “I don’t have to think about that now we can come together we could band together like brothers and really grow this game of basketball the way that it needs to be.”
The 10-time NBA All-Star arrived in Manila on Thursday and was seen visiting Luneta and Intramuros.
Anthony, part of the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team, is not playing in the league as he last saw action with the Los Angeles Lakers, his sixth squad, last year.
The 6-foot-7 forward is the ninth NBA all-time scorer with 28,289 points since being drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2003, played for the New York Knicks from 2011 to 2017 before having brief stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Anthony also graced the Gilas-Lebanon game at Philippine Arena to present the Naismith trophy.