Carmelo Anthony Opens Up on Retiring Without NBA Ring

• Carmelo Anthony is "at peace" after retiring without winning an NBA title
• Anthony announced his retirement on Monday after 19 seasons in the NBA
• The 38-year-old reached the conference finals once but never made the NBA Finals

For a professional athlete, retiring is always the hardest decision, especially if you've not achieved your goals in your career.

Carmelo Anthony is content after retiring from basketball earlier this week. He played 19 seasons in the NBA but leaves the game without winning an NBA title.

Winning the championship is the ultimate goal for any player who joins the NBA. Interestingly, only a percentage of players get to lift the Larry O'Brien NBA Trophy, and Anthony is not in that group.

Still, the 38-year-old had many individual achievements during his largely successful career. He is ninth on the NBA all-time scoring list with 28,289 career points, per the Athletic.

20 Cristiano Ronaldo quotes to motivate your success journey

Football

He led the NBA in scoring and finished third in MVP voting in 2013. He retired with 10-time All-Star appearances, 6 All-NBA selections, and four Olympic medals, including three gold medals. Only Karl Malone has scored more career points in the regular season and playoffs combined without winning an NBA title.

He never made the NBA finals and reached only one conference finals (2009) in his career, which Denver lost to Los Angeles.

Anthony on never winning a ring

Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Anthony is not bothered by not winning a championship in his career.

“I’m at peace. That doesn’t bother me no more; that idea that you’re a loser if you don’t win a championship,” he says. “For me, I’ve won. I won back in 2003, the night I shook David Stern’s hand on that [draft] stage. I made it out of Red Hook. I’ve won at life. The ring is the only thing I didn’t get. It would’ve been a great accomplishment, but I don’t regret it, because I feel like I did everything I could to get it.”

The 15 best Peyton Manning quotes on football, leadership, and perseverance

NFL

He still had some regrets, though.

“The only regret I’ve got there is not being intelligent enough about the business of the game,” he says. “I got that call from [Dwyane] saying, ‘Take the three-year deal; we’re all doing that,’ and I’m like, ‘Do you know where I’m from, man?’ Like, I’m happy, bro. I’m cool with Denver.’”

Players he entered the league with, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, signed short-term deals which gave them some flexibility in the future. James, Wade, and Chris Bosh teamed up in Miami in 2010 and went to four straight NBA finals, winning two of them.

Nonetheless, Anthony retires with a Hall of Fame resume.

James' message to Anthony

Sports Brief earlier reported on LeBron James sending a heartfelt message to Anthony shortly before the Lakers' Game 4 against the Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.

The two veterans were the top two high school players in the early 2000s. They were drafted in the same year (2003), and both quickly became stars in the NBA:

I’m just so proud of you, man, and so blessed that I was able to be a part of your journey..."