5 Reasons Why Carmelo Anthony’s Knicks’ Jersey Won’t Be Retired

Carmelo Anthony is one of 14 illustrious Syracuse Orange basketball players whose jerseys have been officially lifted to the rafters of the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

Now Melo is hinting that he might like to enjoy that same honor at New York's august Madison Square Garden. After his 26-point night recently against his former NBA team, the current star of the Portland Trailblazers admitted he'd been gazing upward during the game and dreaming of immortality with the New York Knicks. It's not likely to happen. Here are five reasons why:

1. Rare air. The individuals whose numbers hang high above the ground floor of the MSG rotunda are more gods than men. Most of the nine won titles with the Knicks as a player or coach. An outlier, center Patrick Ewing, (who last played in 2002) still leads the Knicks in virtually every notable category, including points. Melo is seventh, more than 13,000 points behind Ewing.

2. Defense. All the honored Knicks LIVED it. For much of his career, Melo might have allowed opponents more points than he produced. And he produced a LOT. There's always been an "O" in Anthony, but there is no "D."

3. Houston. As in Allen Houston. If someone DOES deserve the retired jersey honor at MSG due to his scoring exploits, maybe it's Houston, who is fourth on the Knicks' all-time points list, three notches above Anthony.

4. Denver. Melo played more NBA seasons in the Mile High City, where he scored more points and played in more games than he did in New York. In the name of Fat Lever, isn't his Nuggets jersey more likely to be retired?

5. Karmic limits. Melo's number 15 already hangs in Syracuse's Dome for eternity. Plus, his name's on the Carmelo K. Anthony practice facility. And he DID earn those honors for helping bring the Orange its NCAA hoops title in 2003. But, come on, outside of Tom Hanks or Mr. Rogers, how much adulation can one man expect?