Carmelo Anthony on vision boards, endorsement deals & fashion

Carmelo Anthony was recently featured in a Wall Street Journal cover story. In the piece, Melo discusses his feelings on the Knicks early season run, what being in New York means, fashion and how his wife Lala is helping him transcend basketball.

On the Knicks breakout run earlier in the season:

“This is what I envisioned, coming to New York,” he says. “This was on my vision board. I’d sit back and be like, damn, I am going to run out there and be hitting game winners in the Garden in front of fans, getting them riled up. When they’re stomping on the floors, yelling ‘New York Knicks’—that’s a great feeling.”

“I always told friends around me, my family, my teammates, guys in the organization, this process was going to take two and a half to three years,” he says. “Just to get everything in order. Get your feet wet. Get used to it.

On his approach to endorsements deals

Anthony’s current brand relationships include Nike’s Jordan Brand, PowerCoco sports drink and the supplement Isotonix Champion Blend Plus. He also just agreed to terms on a deal with Degree deodorant, and he recently became a stakeholder in Haute Time, a luxury publishing company covering timepieces.

Anthony says he is no longer interested in strict endorsement deals; he prefers partnerships that offer a percentage of ownership.

 ”I’ve got to have a connection with that company,” he says. “An endorsement deal—I just feel like it’s a one-off thing. ‘Oh pay him to go out there and do a commercial.’ After that contract is up, you have no ties with that product. So I go into a deal and say, ‘OK, forget the money. Let’s be partners.’ “

On his relationship with LaLa:

Anthony says that he and Vasquez keep their individual businesses separate (“we have our own entities”), but adds that Vasquez encourages him to look beyond the traditional borders of sports. “She doesn’t look at me as an athlete at all,” Anthony says. “She’s always been the person I can bring something to—that’s a no-brainer.”

On his fashion sense & taking in New York:

“Athletes have become more in tune to the fashion world,” he says.  ”A lot of athletes are just known for being athletes,” Anthony says. “You can come to a place like New York and diversify yourself.”  

Melo’s approach to his endorsements are smart. It’s setting him up for his post career by providing him with not only financial benefits but areas he might have an interest in an can transition career moves in so he’s already set up for the day when father time is ready to take over.

The fact that Melo used a vision board and bounced ideas off his wife is great! That’s what a partnership is all about! Mutually beneficial situations are what’s up.