Carmelo Anthony honors late father, a Boricua, in induction speech

Carmelo Anthony was only 2 years old when his father Carmelo Iriarte succumbed to cancer. Yet the 10-time NBA All-Star always represented his father’s Puerto Rican roots proudly.

Anthony more than embraced his late father’s Boricua blood. He celebrated it throughout his basketball career, whether as a freshman phenom at Syracuse in 2003 or as a retired 41-year-old legend.

So it was fitting that as Anthony joined the basketball immortals in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, he paid tribute to his late father Saturday in Springfield, Mass.

“To my father,” Anthony said while fighting to control his emotions during his induction speech Saturday night. “Here’s where the tears come.”

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After a split second to get his emotions under control, the former Syracuse,  Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks star continued.

‘You never left me’

“To my father, Carmelo Iriarte, Boricua,” Anthony said as some in the crowd yelled in appreciation of his Boricua mention. “You left this world too soon, but you never left me. Your name is my name. Your spirit walks with me in every step I take.

“You were a poet, an activist, a fighter. You taught me without even knowing that words matter, that vision matters. Even in your absence, you gave me strength. And in silence you gave me purpose. 

“And though I didn’t get to grow with you, I grew because of you. You gave me the first example of what it meant to carry fire and still speak with grace. Your blood runs in mine. Your dream lives through me. This Hall of Fame jacket that I received – I’m not wearing it tonight – I wear it for the both of us.”

Iriarte was a Nuyorican with Puerto Rican roots. Carmelo Anthony’s mother, Mary Anthony, is African American. 

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Carmelo Anthony, 41, led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA national championship as a true freshman. He was then drafted No. 3 overall by the Nuggets in 2003. Anthony played 19 seasons in the NBA between the Nuggets, Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 22.5 points over his career. 

Through it all, he always embraced his Latino fans. After being named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 in April, Carmelo Anthony vowed to honor his Latino roots.

“The Spanish-speaking fans that’s out there, we love them,” Carmelo Anthony said in April at the San Antonio Alamodome. “We bringing it back. We’re coming back to Puerto Rico. We’re celebrating with all our Spanish-speaking fans and all of our Latinos and Latinas.”

Like a good son, Carmelo Anthony kept his word. He honored his fellow Boricuas and, more importantly, his late father.