Who was Patrick Mahomes’ favorite NBA player while growing up?
The Super Bowl-winning quarterback opened up about his favorite NBA star recently, and the player that he named will likely be seen as a surprising choice by some.
Though you would have expected him to choose the likes of Michael Jordan who was still active during his childhood, the Kansas City Chiefs star turned heads when he revealed the NBA player whom he idolized, a man who has developed somewhat of a cult following even though he no longer plays the game.
Carmelo Anthony is Patrick Mahomes’ No. 1
If you didn’t know, prior to his time as a star of college football and then the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes also played basketball and baseball in high school. During that time, like many other student-athletes, he took inspiration from a number of professional athletes, but one in particular was from the NBA. Now, given that Mahomes was born in 1995, his adolescence would have occurred at a time that can be considered a golden era in basketball, in that the league was full of talent. Yet, there was one player in particular who drew his attention more than others, and it wasn’t LeBron James.
“At that time, I was a Carmelo Anthony fan,” Mahomes said recently. “I was, like, going the other way. You had LeBron, everyone was LeBron’s fan, so I love LeBron, but at the same time I kinda wanted to have that guy. It was Denver Nuggets, him shooting the three sign at the side of the head and [he] goes to the Knicks, so I was a big Carmelo fan growing up.” To be clear, Mahomes was referring to Anthony’s now famous signature three-point celebration which would see him bang three fingers against the side of his head.
Who was Carmelo Anthony?
A fan favorite with both the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks who was known for his prolific scoring, Anthony was widely admired for for his ability to make difficult shots. Indeed, he made them look easy and that’s precisely why he accumulated numerous accolades and records across a 14-year career in the NBA. Along the way, there were 10 All-Star selections, three Olympic gold medals and one bronze and a scoring title. To be clear, Anthony is one of only six players in NBA history to average 20+ points per game in each of their first 14 seasons. Today, he sits in ninth position on the league’s all-time scoring list. This is all to say that though he sadly announced his retirement from the game back in May, his legacy will live on in the hearts of fans, including Patrick Mahomes.