On Sunday, the US men’s basketball team took home its third gold medal after a 99-66 win over Serbia. Following the win, New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony told reporters in an emotional interview that this would be his last Olympics.
“It was a special moment for me. I know this is the end. This is it for me. I committed to something,” Anthony said while fighting back tears, “I committed to this in ’04. I’ve seen the worst and I’ve seen the best. I stuck with it; we stuck with it. I’m here today, three gold medals later. I’m excited for me, but also for the other guys who have never experienced anything like this.”
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Anthony becomes the first American male player to win three gold medals. His Olympic career started in 2004 in Athens, where team USA took home bronze. Later, the team took home gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and in 2012 in London.
The NBA player also made a plea for unity, addressing those at home by saying, “I just want to say thank you for allowing me to be one of the leaders, not just of our team but of the country. Despite everything that’s going on right now in our country, we’ve got to be united. I’m glad I did what I did, I stepped up to the challenge, but this is what it’s about: representing our country on the biggest stage you can be on. America will be great again, I believe that. We got a lot of work to do but one step at a time. I’m glad we represented it in the fashion that we did.”