Reflections on a Melo Day in Baltimore

Both softened and matured by age and experience, the young men I knew while in middle school in Baltimore — during the start of Carmelo Anthony’s NBA career — appeared to be emotional (at least on Instagram) on the day “Melo,” as most of us affectionately call the former power forward, announced his retirement Monday. It was a warm late-May day, nearing 80 degrees in Baltimore.