Looking All Dapper: Carmelo Anthony Fashion Shoot & Interview With Haute Living Magazine

This past November, right before the Thanksgiving holiday, the talented Swizz Beatz set down and interviewed NBA player Carmelo Anthony for Haute Living magazine. This Brooklyn born-Baltimore raised Knicks forward is my favorite NBA player. This interview was done during the NBA lockout. While only a freshman at Syracuse University, Melo led the team to a 30-5 record win for the 2003 NCAA Men’s Division Basketball tournament, beating four Big 12 teams on its way to the title. He also donated $3 million for the development of the Carmelo K. Anthony Practice Facility at Syracuse University (one of the country’s top basketball facilities). In Melo’s interview with Swizz, they talked about Melo playing for the Knicks, his jersey number, businesses outside of sports, fashion and much more. Below are some excerpts:

On the first time he played with the NY Knicks and seeing the stadium filled with people to see him play.

It was crazy because I was coming from LA after All-Star weekend, so it’s tiring after a six-hour flight. I had to come right back in and play on two hours of sleep. I was coming into a situation that I had no idea about. The team, the organization, I had to adjust to that. I had to jump right on tour. All-Star game in LA and [then] jumped right into the Knicks uniform and it was a dream come true for me. Just to run out [of] that tunnel and hear [the song] I’m Coming Home.  I never get anxious, I never get nervous, but that moment right there just gave me goose bumps.

On the importance of having the number seven.

Number seven. First of all, the number 15 was [already] retired by Earl Monroe.  I went to him and said, “Earl, man, I need number 15.” He said, “Melo, you can have it.  We’ll do a ceremony and we’ll bring it back down.” A week went by and I decided I want to start out fresh. This is a new chapter in my book, a new beginning. So I decided on seven. I want seven. My son was born on March 7th. So seven is a completion. I’m here in New York and that’s a sign of completion. I feel I’m complete right now.

The importance of having businesses outside of sports.

It’s all about being smart and knowledgeable about what other business endeavors you want to get [involved] in, not just getting into it because it’s a fun thing to do or your accountant or your business manager brought it to you. You have to really know what you’re getting into. There are deals out there, companies that I could get into but I have no knowledge of the companies so for myself, I like to break it down, see if my brand will fit with that brand. If it does, then we rock out. If it doesn’t then we [can’t] take that risk.

Source: Haute Living

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