Words THE CEO MAGAZINE

13-min read

Leadership Innovation

In an exclusive interview with The CEO Magazine, NBA

superstar, entrepreneur and social justice activist Carmelo
Anthony reveals why making a positive impact on society is
the only slam dunk he’s striving to achieve in the business
world.

On a night dedicated to celebrating sporting excellence and honoring the late

Muhammad Ali at the 2016 ESPY Awards, 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony,
alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul, chose the platform to decry
racial injustice and police brutality in the United States.

“The system is broken,” Anthony announced live onstage. “The problems are not
new, the violence is not new, and the racial divide definitely is not new. But the
urgency to create change is at an all-time high.”

Visibly moved, the players each recalled the previous week’s fatal police shootings
of two unarmed African American men in two very different parts of the country –

Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, a
suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The united voices of these four elite athletes immediately converted the glitzy

awards ceremony in downtown Los Angeles into a rallying cry for justice and law
enforcement accountability.

“THE URGENCY TO CREATE CHANGE IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH.”

Several days prior to the ESPY Awards, Anthony had posted a photograph to

Instagram highlighting a landmark moment known as the ‘Muhammad Ali Summit’.

On 4 June 1967, Ali and a group of 10 other prominent African American athletes
and one politician held a press conference on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. This

followed Ali’s decision a month earlier not to serve in the United States Armed

Forces in Vietnam. The summit was heralded by the mainstream media as a turning
point in sports’ fight against injustice.

Almost five decades after this iconic gathering, and in response to a spate of police

violence, Anthony’s appeal called on his fellow athletes to go to their local officials
and demand change.

Anthony’s Instagram post caught the attention of his ESPY comrades James, Wade
and Paul, inspiring the quartet to connect.

Their aim was to figure out how they could combine forces and use their public
platforms to encourage other athletes to join the fight for justice.

By raising their voices at the 2016 ESPY Awards, these four sporting legends
sparked a modern movement for social change.

NO MAN LEFT BEHIND

Anthony’s unbridled passion for equality can be traced back to his roots, having

been raised first in Brooklyn’s Red Hook housing projects and then in the projects of

West Baltimore during the 1980s and 1990s.

“Growing up in the housing projects, you go through experiences without even

knowing you’re dealing with anything,” Anthony tells The CEO Magazine. “You just

assume that struggle is normal. Everybody is going through the same thing,
struggling the same way. So, everybody has the same mentality.”

While he acknowledges that this homogenous thinking occasionally proved to be

detrimental, Anthony fondly recalls that “everybody had each other’s backs”. He

says the collective psyche was embodied in the principle “no man left behind”.

“YOU’RE REPRESENTING SOMETHING THAT’S BIGGER THAN

YOU. YOU’RE REPRESENTING YOUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY;
SOMETHING THAT’S NEAR AND DEAR TO YOU, YOUR FAMILY
AND YOUR FRIENDS.”

“You’re representing something that’s bigger than you. You’re representing your

entire community; something that’s near and dear to you, your family and your

friends. So, you have to protect it at all costs,” Anthony explains.

Spending his formative years living in public housing complexes on the east coast

produced unlikely seeds that would eventually germinate and become the

foundation for a glittering two-decade career in the NBA – where the team is given
pride of place above all else.

SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISM

Anthony had a long and distinguished track record of social justice activism and
philanthropy well before the death of George Floyd – when it became in vogue for

individuals and institutions to stand up for a social cause.

In 2005, just two years after his NBA debut, he founded the eponymously named

The Carmelo Anthony Foundation, a charitable organization to help children and

families living in impoverished and underserved areas by providing educational

support, outreach programs and donation services.

Together with the formation of the Social Change Fund United (SCFU) in 2020, an
organization with a mission to uplift and empower underrepresented communities of

color across the United States, Anthony’s philanthropic efforts have gained serious

traction.

In 2021, he was the inaugural recipient of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice

Champion Award, which recognizes a current NBA player for pursuing social justice

and upholding the NBA’s values of equality, respect and inclusion.

“WE REALIZED THAT NOW WAS OUR TIME TO COME TOGETHER

AND DO SOMETHING REALLY IMPACTFUL.”

Anthony partnered with two of his ESPY Awards presenters, Wade and Paul, to
create the SCFU in the summer of 2020.

Despite what may be assumed, it wasn’t the police murder of George Floyd in May

of that year that served as the catalyst for the creation of the SCFU. Rather, it was
the civilian racially motivated murder of a 25-year-old African American man just

three months earlier while he was out jogging in Satilla Shores, a subdivision in
coastal Georgia.

“It was during the COVID-19 pandemic bubble. Ahmaud Arbery had been murdered
in Georgia. Dwyane, Chris and I realized we had a voice and we needed to move
quickly,” Anthony recalls.

“We asked ourselves, ‘What’s the next step from the ESPYs, when we stood onstage
and made that speech?’ We realized that now was our time to come together and

do something really impactful.”

And the SCFU was born. While mooting the trio’s next move, Anthony was clear on

one thing – it had to have tangible objectives with well-defined priorities.

According to the ‘SCFU Impact Report 2021-2022’, the organization’s mission is

clear: “To create a fair and equitable society through five pillars of focus: public
safety and criminal justice reform, civic engagement, economic investment, arts and
education and health equity.”

UNPACKING THE IMPACT

The SCFU is arguably the pièce de résistance of Anthony’s philanthropic body of

work to date. It addresses head-on some of the burning issues affecting

communities of color in American society today, such as police brutality, mass

incarceration, voter suppression, income disparities and supplier diversity.

The need for the SCFU is proving more pressing than ever before, with, for
example, lawmakers across the United States introducing bills to ban educational
content deemed ‘offensive’ in schools and libraries.

Last year, it was reported that more than 1,600 books were banned in United States
school districts between July 2021 and June 2022. Forty percent included included

protagonists or secondary characters who were people of color, 21 percent were

books about racism and racial issues and 10 percent were books about civic rights
and activism.

While various states continue to censor anti-racism books in record numbers, the
SCFU is pushing back by working tirelessly to provide access to anti-racism

education.

The presence of the SCFU is being felt not just in the anti-racism field, but across

the board. As of 2022, the organization has devised more than 25 strategic impact
programs, distributed in excess of US$650,000 in grants and positively impacted
the lives of over 115,000 individuals.

This level of success, from a relatively small operation covering 13 states, has now
put expansion plans on the table. “We actually just finished a board meeting

recently. We talked about expansion, different areas and regions we want to tap
into and programs we want to be a part of,” Anthony explains.

FROM BASKETBALL TO THE BOARDROOM

Anthony is a decorated athlete whose talent is as broad as it is deep.

As a freshman at Syracuse University, his Herculean efforts led the team to the

2003 NCAA National Championship, with his individual excellence and title game-
high 20 points earning him the coveted title of the tournament’s Most Outstanding
Player.

He became the first freshman in history to lead an eventual champion team in

scoring average, tallying 22.2 points per game.

As a member of the United States national team, Anthony became a three-time

Olympic champion in consecutive Olympic Games – achieving gold in Beijing (2008),

London (2012) and Rio (2016). His Olympic record is unmatched by any other male
basketball player.

And that’s not all. One of the most prolific scorers ever, Anthony currently ranks
ninth on the NBA all-time scoring list. He was also selected for the NBA’s 75th
Anniversary Team, which consists of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, as

chosen by a comprehensive panel of NBA reporters and personnel.

But Anthony’s aspirations go beyond basketball. He had wanted to enter executive

boardrooms around the country and eventually command a similar level of respect
that he did on the basketball court.

In the business world, where celebrity incursions are sometimes frowned upon,
Anthony has had a positive experience, having been met with a warm reception
from the entrepreneurial and executive communities.

He believes that, in all likelihood, this was because he didn’t play the ‘celebrity card’
and just rely on his popularity as many others have done before him.

THE ROOKIE

Instead, he acknowledged that, while he was an expert in basketball, he was a mere

rookie in business. So, he humbly donned his L-plates and did the necessary work

to establish his credibility as an entrepreneur and investor in his own right.

“I REALLY EMPHASIZED PUTTING MY BOOTS ON THE GROUND

– GOING TO OFFICES, TAKING THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND
BUSINESS PLANS AND TALKING TO FOUNDERS AND OWNERS.”

“I was a student, learning and absorbing all this information and trying to figure it

out. I really emphasized putting my boots on the ground – going to offices, taking
the time to understand business plans and talking to founders and owners,”
Anthony says.

“This way, I was able to gauge the core values of the people and projects I was
investing in and partnering with to make sure that I’m only putting my name, my

efforts and my insights into endeavors I truly believe in.”

For Anthony, the key to unlocking a whole new world of business opportunities was

understanding business speak. “When you can speak the same language as
businesspeople, it knocks down all barriers,” he says.

Anthony says that some of the core attributes he cultivated on the basketball court

have helped him cross over to the boardroom, where the athlete-entrepreneur
emerged.

“It’s about team building, understanding the dynamics of what it takes to win and be
successful, putting your team together, instructing your team and putting team

members in positions of strength,” he explains.

Fittingly, Anthony uses a basketball analogy. “Encouraging team members to play to

their strengths is not telling someone, ‘Hey, you’re a three-point specialist, but I
want you to go down there and post up.’

“No, if you’re a three-point specialist, I need you to be a three-point specialist. If

you’re the point guard, I need you to run my team. And if you’re the scorer, then I
need you to score. These are the same dynamics I applied to the boardroom.”

A FORCE FOR GOOD

After nearly two decades in the NBA, Anthony has embraced the idea that his
prodigious basketball talent is a vehicle for creating something even greater off the

court.

While many elite athletes are quick to pursue sponsorship and endorsement
opportunities, Anthony has made a conscious decision to forge his own path in the

business world.

“I had to turn down a lot of endorsement deals and say, ‘You know what? I’m going

to build this business the way that I want to build it and I’m going to build it from the
ground up because I want people to take me seriously,’” he explains.

“I’M GOING TO BUILD THIS BUSINESS THE WAY THAT I WANT

TO BUILD IT AND I’M GOING TO BUILD IT FROM THE GROUND
UP BECAUSE I WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE ME SERIOUSLY.”

“When they see that, they respect me from a business standpoint and as someone
who has a vision and is a creator, as opposed to just someone slapping a name on a
product, getting the dollar amount, going out there and promoting it for two years
and then it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s over and I helped you get US$300 million and I’m walking
away with US$150,000.’

“Those dynamics don’t work for me. It was probably around 2010 that I stopped
focusing on endorsement deals and really started working towards equity and
creating my own company. I pride myself on being one of the first athletes to do
that.”

Anthony officially announced his retirement from the NBA on 22 May 2023. “I
remember the days when I had nothing, just a ball on the court and a dream of
something more, but basketball was my outlet,” Anthony said in a video posted on
his social media channels.

“My purpose was strong, my communities, the cities I represented with pride and

the fans that supported me along the way. I am forever grateful for those people
and places because they made me Carmelo Anthony.

“But now the time has come for me to say goodbye to the court where I made my
name, to the game that gave me purpose and pride. With this bittersweet goodbye
to the NBA, I’m excited about what the future holds for me.”

THE NUMBER SEVEN

Indeed, the future certainly does look bright for Anthony.

His extensive portfolio of business interests, which he operates alongside his

longtime business partner Asani Swann, includes Creative 7, a multi-platform
production company that creates content for TV, film, audio and digital, and VII(N) –

The Seventh Estate, a global wine estate brand that in 2022 released its inaugural
blend, Oath of Fidelity.

Alongside Isos Capital Management Founders and Co-CEOs George Barrios and
Michelle Wilson, Carmelo also launched Isos7 Sports Investment, an investment
platform targeting a portfolio of sports leagues, teams, emerging properties and

ancillary businesses across the world that has pledged to commit one percent of its
profits to support underrepresented populations and underserved communities.

The number seven, which can be found in the titles across Anthony’s businesses,
pays homage to the jersey number he wore throughout much of his career, most
notably as the star of the New York Knicks from 2011 to 2017.

However, the number is far from the only common thread running through Anthony’s
business pursuits. Instead, the ventures are united by an intentional approach to
increasing the presence and power of the Black community throughout the
business world.

Anthony with his longtime business partner Asani Swann

Referring to Creative 7, for example, Anthony has previously spoken of his passion
for creating original content that gives a voice to the silenced, advocates for the
underserved and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.

“We are in a time of profound transformation, so we believe it is more important

than ever to spotlight the individuals and the stories that will uplift the world and

inspire lasting change,” he said when announcing the launch of the production
company.

Similarly, VII(N) – The Seventh Estate aims to introduce more people of color into
the hitherto elitist wine community. “The people who consume the wine, I want

them to have an experience,” Anthony says.

“I want them to follow and be a part of the journey. This wine business is bringing
more people of color and a younger demographic into the industry. It’s creating
programs for the younger generation where they can feel a part of the wine
industry.”

And then there’s Isos7 Sports Investment, an investment vehicle forecast to have
access to a US$750 million capital fund.

Research suggests that traditional investment firms lack diversity, particularly in

their leadership ranks. Through Isos7 Sports Investment, the plan is to shake up the

status quo by riding the crest of a wave of diverse investors and a diverse
management team, which will donate one percent of the company’s profits to
underrepresented and underserved communities.

“If you don’t have diversity, you’re not going to succeed. You’re not going to win,”
Anthony says.

“You need to have diversity on your board and in your company. If not, you’re not
going to have the voices and the diverse opinions that you really need in order to
make your business grow and get to where it needs to be.”

When it comes to making a business a force for good, Anthony’s advice to other
leaders is simple. “You’ve got to listen first,” he insists.

“Do your research and be open to feedback and creativity. You have to allow your
team to flourish in the areas they flourish in. Who am I as a leader if I have a weak
team? A strong team is vital, especially with everything we are trying to build and
achieve.”