My 5 favorite Carmelo Anthony moments as a New York Knick

Right in the middle of Trump v. Sports and me becoming a Maryland Terrapins fan, Carmelo Anthony was traded to Oklahoma City.

We at Posting and Toasting will have plenty more about this trade. But let us look back before we move forward. I'd like to get into my feels right quick. There was no shortage of prolific scoring nights and incredible individual performances when it came to Melo's tenure as a Knick, but there were so many more layers to the man.

Allow me to give you my five favourite moments from the six-and-a-half years of incredible highs, all-time lows, unrealistic hope, and occasional despair that’ll come to be known as the Melo Era.

5: The “Glazed Donut Face Ass” Tweet—Dec. 31, 2013

LeBron James calling Donald Trump “U Bum” on Twitter is pretty fucking excellent for social and political reasons; Melo calling Twitter user @_Kingsleyy5 a “glazed donut face ass” was excellent for reasons I still to this day have yet to fully process. How

This tweet came right in the middle of the first Bargnani season, and everyone knew Melo was probably going to opt out of his contract at the end of the season. No one was particularly happy with the state of the Knicks at that point, but for a few moments on New Year’s Eve—yes, one of the richest, most famous athletes in America was clapping back at the haters on New Year’s Eve—the clouds parted and everything was delightful. Happy 2014, everyone!

4. Melo’s First Game As A Knick—Feb. 23, 2011

I was in my 10th grade Ethics class when I learned Melo got traded to New York. A friend texted me in all caps to let me know. My Blackberry Bold buzzed and my teacher confiscated it. It was the best Ethics class ever.

Melo’s first game was against Milwaukee. He scored 27 points, had 10 rebounds and an assist. The first intro gave me the chills. Most importantly, the Knicks had a super dangerous All-Star duo of Melo and Amar’e Stoudemire. For the first time in a decade, fans had what seemed to be real hope for the future. Sure, we had essentially tied the foreseeable future of the franchise to him but we weren’t thinking about that! We had a team that would be able to take care of the declining Big 3 in Boston and at the very least compete with the Big 3 in Miami.

3. Melo Addresses Crowd after Hurricane Sandy, Knicks Beat the Defending Champs—Nov. 2, 2012

Cities up and down the east coast were just beginning to pick up the pieces that Hurricane Sandy left behind when the Knicks opened their season against the Heat at the Garden. Carmelo Anthony took the microphone before the game and spoke to the crowd. He addressed the millions of people in the Tri-State area who were still recovering from the disastrous effects of the hurricane.

After doing that, he helped the Knicks beat Miami by 20 points. He scored 30 points and picked up 10 rebounds en route to the win. He also received chants of “MVP!” which were actually appropriate for his performance that season.

That was a pretty wonderful evening for a city that really needed a pick-me-up.

2. Melo’s 62-point game against the Bobcats

2013-14 was a crummy season, but Melo did have one of the most memorable game in Knicks’ history that year. On January 24th, he dropped a career-high, a Knicks’ franchise game-high, and a Madison Square Garden game-high 62 points against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Every time I watch the highlights of this game, I’m reminded that he put that half-court buzzer beater in to end the first half. He was on fire that night. Sadly, the performance doesn’t fit into a larger season narrative; the Knicks finished 9th and missed the postseason. Still, no one will ever forget that game.

1. Duh! The Easter Sunday Classic—April 8, 2012

This should come as no surprise, in my opinion. Carmelo’s performance against the Bulls on Easter Sunday at The Garden is probably one of my favourite sports moments ever.

That game was a fucking roller coaster. The Knicks had huge early leads and then completely pooped the bed until Derrick Rose missed some free throws and Melo became a superhero. His clutch game-tying three and his go-ahead three with 9 second left in overtime were completely unforgettable. They were also just 6 of his 43 points that day.

I watch the highlights of this game every once in a while because why the heck not?

This is a bittersweet moment, even for fans who thought the Melo-Knicks breakup came far too late. Personally I’ll always be grateful for his time here and I’ll always be disappointed that it couldn’t work out better.

Adieu, Melo. I hope you’ll be hitting that three to the dome all the way to a championship in OKC.