Garnet
General
Category	Nesosilicate
Chemical formula	The general formula X3Y2(SiO4)3
Identification
Color	virtually all colors
Crystal habit	rhombic dodecahedra or cubic
Crystal system	Cubic rhombic dodecahedron, icositetrahedron
Cleavage	Indistinct
Fracture	conchoidal to uneven
Mohs scale hardness	6.5–7.5
Luster	vitreous to resinous
Streak	White
Specific gravity	3.1–4.3
Polish luster	vitreous to subadamantine[1]
Optical properties	Single refractive, often anomalous double refractive[1]
Refractive index	1.72–1.94
Birefringence	None
Pleochroism	None
Major varieties
Pyrope	Mg3Al2Si3O12
Almandine	Fe3Al2Si3O12
Spessartine	Mn3Al2Si3O12
Andradite	Ca3Fe2Si3O12
Grossular	Ca3Al2Si3O12
Uvarovite	Ca3Cr2Si3O12

Garnets /ˈɡɑrnət/ are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" comes from 14th century Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', from the Latin granatus granatus coming from granum (grain, seed) + suffix "atus", possibly a reference to "mela granatum" or even "pomum granatum" ("pomegranate",^[2] scientific name: "Punica granatum"), a plant whose abundant vivid red arils contained in the fruit are similar in shape, size, and color to some garnet crystals.^[3]

Garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms but different chemical compositions. The different species are pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular (varieties of which are hessonite or cinnamon-stone and tsavorite), uvarovite and andradite. The garnets make up two solid solution series: pyrope-almandine-spessarite and uvarovite-grossular-andradite.

Physical properties[link]

Properties[link]

Garnet species are found in many colors including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, pink and colorless. The rarest of these is the blue garnet, discovered in the late 1990s in Bekily, Madagascar. It is also found in parts of the United States, Russia and Turkey. It changes color from blue-green in the daylight to purple in incandescent light, as a result of the relatively high amounts of vanadium (about 1 wt.% V₂O₃). Other varieties of color-changing garnets exist. In daylight, their color ranges from shades of green, beige, brown, gray, and blue, but in incandescent light, they appear a reddish or purplish/pink color. Because of their color changing quality, this kind of garnet is often mistaken for Alexandrite.

Garnet species' light transmission properties can range from the gemstone-quality transparent specimens to the opaque varieties used for industrial purposes as abrasives. The mineral's luster is categorized as vitreous (glass-like) or resinous (amber-like).

Crystal structure[link]

Crystal structure model of garnet

Garnets are nesosilicates having the general formula X₃Y₂(Si O₄)₃. The X site is usually occupied by divalent cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Fe²⁺) and the Y site by trivalent cations (Al³⁺, Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺) in an octahedral/tetrahedral framework with [SiO₄]⁴⁻ occupying the tetrahedra.^[4] Garnets are most often found in the dodecahedral crystal habit, but are also commonly found in the trapezohedron habit. (Note: the word "trapezohedron" as used here and in most mineral texts refers to the shape called a Deltoidal icositetrahedron in solid geometry.) They crystallize in the cubic system, having three axes that are all of equal length and perpendicular to each other. Garnets do not show cleavage, so when they fracture under stress, sharp irregular pieces are formed.

Hardness[link]

Because the chemical composition of garnet varies, the atomic bonds in some species are stronger than in others. As a result, this mineral group shows a range of hardness on the Mohs Scale of about 6.5 to 7.5. The harder species, like almandine, are often used for abrasive purposes.

Magnetics used in garnet series identification[link]

Magnetic susceptibility has been used to distinguish the various garnet species.^[5]

Garnet group endmember species[link]

[edit] Pyralspite garnets – aluminium in Y site

• Almandine: Fe₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃
• Pyrope: Mg₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃
• Spessartine: Mn₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃

Almandine[link]

Almandine in metamorphic rock

Almandine, sometimes incorrectly called almandite, is the modern gem known as carbuncle (though originally almost any red gemstone was known by this name). The term "carbuncle" is derived from the Latin meaning "live coal" or burning charcoal. The name Almandine is a corruption of Alabanda, a region in Asia Minor where these stones were cut in ancient times. Chemically, almandine is an iron-aluminium garnet with the formula Fe₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃; the deep red transparent stones are often called precious garnet and are used as gemstones (being the most common of the gem garnets). Almandine occurs in metamorphic rocks like mica schists, associated with minerals such as staurolite, kyanite, andalusite, and others. Almandine has nicknames of Oriental garnet, almandine ruby, and carbuncle.

Pyrope[link]

Pyrope (from the Greek pyrōpós meaning "fire-eyed") is red in color and chemically a magnesium aluminium silicate with the formula Mg₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃, though the magnesium can be replaced in part by calcium and ferrous iron. The color of pyrope varies from deep red to almost black. Pyrope and spessartine gemstones have been recovered from the Sloan diamondiferous kimberlites in Colorado, from the Bishop Conglomerate and in a Tertiary age lamprophyre at Cedar Mountain in Wyoming.^[6]

A variety of pyrope from Macon County, North Carolina is a violet-red shade and has been called rhodolite, from the Greek meaning "a rose." In chemical composition it may be considered as essentially an isomorphous mixture of pyrope and almandine, in the proportion of two parts pyrope to one part almandine. Pyrope has tradenames some of which are misnomers; Cape ruby, Arizona ruby, California ruby, Rocky Mountain ruby, and Bohemian garnet from the Czech Republic. Another intriguing find is the blue color-changing garnets from Madagascar, a pyrope spessartine mix. The color of these blue garnets is not like sapphire blue in subdued daylight but more reminiscent of the grayish blues and greenish blues sometimes seen in spinel. However, in white LED light the color is equal to the best cornflower blue sapphire, or D block tanzanite; this is due to the blue garnet's ability to absorb the yellow component of the emitted light.^{[citation needed]}

Pyrope is an indicator mineral for high-pressure rocks. The garnets from mantle derived rocks, peridotites and eclogites, commonly contain a pyrope variety.

Spessartine[link]

Spessartine (the reddish mineral)

Spessartine or spessartite is manganese aluminium garnet, Mn₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃. Its name is derived from Spessart in Bavaria. It occurs most often in granite pegmatite and allied rock types and in certain low grade metamorphic phyllites. Spessartine of an orange-yellow is found in Madagascar. Violet-red spessartines are found in rhyolites in Colorado and Maine.

[edit] Ugrandite group – calcium in X site

• Andradite: Ca₃Fe₂(SiO₄)₃
• Grossular: Ca₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃
• Uvarovite: Ca₃Cr₂(SiO₄)₃

Andradite[link]

Andradite is a calcium-iron garnet, Ca₃Fe₂(SiO₄)₃, is of variable composition and may be red, yellow, brown, green or black. The recognized varieties are topazolite (yellow or green), demantoid (green) and melanite (black). Andradite is found both in deep-seated igneous rocks like syenite as well as serpentines, schists, and crystalline limestone. Demantoid has been called the "emerald of the Urals" from its occurrence there, and is one of the most prized of garnet varieties. Topazolite is a golden yellow variety and melanite is a black variety.

Grossular[link]

Grossular on display at the US National Museum of Natural History. The green gem at right is a type of grossular known as tsavorite.

Grossular is a calcium-aluminium garnet with the formula Ca₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃, though the calcium may in part be replaced by ferrous iron and the aluminium by ferric iron. The name grossular is derived from the botanical name for the gooseberry, grossularia, in reference to the green garnet of this composition that is found in Siberia. Other shades include cinnamon brown (cinnamon stone variety), red, and yellow. Because of its inferior hardness to zircon, which the yellow crystals resemble, they have also been called hessonite from the Greek meaning inferior. Grossular is found in contact metamorphosed limestones with vesuvianite, diopside, wollastonite and wernerite.

Grossular garnet from Kenya and Tanzania has been called tsavorite. Tsavorite was first described in the 1960s in the Tsavo area of Kenya, from which the gem takes its name.^{[citation needed]}

Uvarovite[link]

Uvarovite is a calcium chromium garnet with the formula Ca₃Cr₂(SiO₄)₃. This is a rather rare garnet, bright green in color, usually found as small crystals associated with chromite in peridotite, serpentinite, and kimberlites. It is found in crystalline marbles and schists in the Ural mountains of Russia and Outokumpu, Finland.

Less common species[link]

• Calcium in X site
  • Goldmanite: Ca₃V₂(SiO₄)₃
  • Kimzeyite: Ca₃(Zr,Ti)₂[(Si,Al,Fe³⁺)O₄]₃
  • Morimotoite: Ca₃Ti⁴⁺Fe²⁺(SiO₄)₃
  • Schorlomite: Ca₃(Ti⁴⁺,Fe³⁺)₂[(Si,Ti)O₄]₃
• Hydroxide bearing – calcium in X site
  • Hydrogrossular: Ca₃Al₂(SiO₄)_3-x(OH)_4x
    • Hibschite: Ca₃Al₂(SiO₄)_3-x(OH)_4x (where x is between 0.2 and 1.5)
    • Katoite: Ca₃Al₂(SiO₄)_3-x(OH)_4x (where x is greater than 1.5)
• Magnesium or manganese in X site
  • Knorringite: Mg₃Cr₂(SiO₄)₃
  • Majorite: Mg₃(Fe²⁺Si)(SiO₄)₃
  • Calderite: Mn₃Fe³⁺₂(SiO₄)₃

Knorringite[link]

Knorringite is a magnesium chromium garnet species with the formula Mg₃Cr₂(SiO₄)₃. Pure endmember knorringite never occurs in nature. Pyrope rich in the knorringite component is only formed under high pressure and is often found in kimberlites. It is used as an indicator mineral in the search for diamonds.

Garnet structural group[link]

• Formula: X₃Z₂(TO₄)₃ (X = Ca, Fe, etc., Z = Al, Cr, etc., T = Si, As, V, Fe, Al)
  • All are cubic or strongly pseudocubic.

• IMA/CNMNC – Nickel-Strunz – Mineral subclass: 09.A Nesosilicate
  • Nickel-Strunz classification: 09.AD.25

• References: Mindat.org; mineral name, chemical formula and space group (American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database) of the IMA Database of Mineral Properties/ RRUFF Project, Univ. of Arizona, was preferred most of the time. Minor components in formulae have been left out to highlight the dominant chemical endmember that defines each species.

Synthetic garnets[link]

The crystallographic structure of garnets has been expanded from the prototype to include chemicals with the general formula A₃B₂(C O₄)₃. Besides silicon, a large number of elements have been put on the C site, including Ge, Ga, Al, V and Fe.^[7]

Yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG), Y₃Al₂(AlO₄)₃, is used for synthetic gemstones. Due to its fairly high refractive index, YAG was used as a diamond simulant in the 1970s until the methods of producing the more advanced simulant cubic zirconia in commercial quantities were developed. When doped with neodymium (Nd³⁺), these YAl-garnets may be used as the lasing medium in lasers.

Interesting magnetic properties arise when the appropriate elements are used. In yttrium iron garnet (YIG), Y₃Fe₂(FeO₄)₃, the five iron(III) ions occupy two octahedral and three tetrahedral sites, with the yttrium(III) ions coordinated by eight oxygen ions in an irregular cube. The iron ions in the two coordination sites exhibit different spins, resulting in magnetic behaviour. YIG is a ferrimagnetic material having a Curie temperature of 550 K.

Another example is gadolinium gallium garnet, Gd₃Ga₂(GaO₄)₃ which is synthesized for use as a substrate for liquid phase epitaxy of magnetic garnet films for bubble memory and magneto-optical applications.

Geological importance of garnet[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Garnet var. Spessartine, Putian City, Putian Prefecture, Fujian Province, China

The Garnet group is a key mineral in interpreting the genesis of many igneous and metamorphic rocks via geothermobarometry. Diffusion of elements is relatively slow in garnet compared to rates in many other minerals, and garnets are also relatively resistant to alteration. Hence, individual garnets commonly preserve compositional zonations that are used to interpret the temperature-time histories of the rocks in which they grew. Garnet grains that lack compositional zonation commonly are interpreted as having been homogenized by diffusion, and the inferred homogenization also has implications for the temperature-time history of the host rock.

Garnets are also useful in defining metamorphic facies of rocks. For instance, eclogite can be defined as a rock of basalt composition, but mainly consisting of garnet and omphacite. Pyrope-rich garnet is restricted to relatively high-pressure metamorphic rocks, such as those in the lower crust and in the Earth's mantle. Peridotite may contain plagioclase, or aluminium-rich spinel, or pyrope-rich garnet, and the presence of each of the three minerals defines a pressure-temperature range in which the mineral could equilibrate with olivine plus pyroxene: the three are listed in order of increasing pressure for stability of the peridotite mineral assemblage^[vague]. Hence, garnet peridotite must have been formed at great depth in the earth. Xenoliths of garnet peridotite have been carried up from depths of 100 km and greater by kimberlite, and garnets from such disaggegated xenoliths are used as a kimberlite indicator minerals in diamond prospecting. At depths of about 300 to 400 km and greater, a pyroxene component is dissolved in garnet, by the substitution of (Mg,Fe) plus Si for 2Al in the octahedral (Y) site in the garnet structure, creating unusually silica-rich garnets that have solid solution towards majorite. Such silica-rich garnets have been identified as inclusions within diamonds.

Uses of garnets[link]

8th (?) century Anglo-Saxon sword hilt fitting, gold with gemstone inlay of garnet cloisonné. From the Staffordshire Hoard, found in 2009, and not fully cleaned.

Pendant in uvarovite, a rare bright-green garnet.

Red garnets were the most commonly used gemstones in the Late Antique Roman world, and the Migration Period art of the "barbarian" peoples who took over the territory of the Western Empire. They were especially used inlaid in gold cells in the cloisonné technique, a style often just called garnet cloisonné, found from Anglo-Saxon England, as at Sutton Hoo, to the Black Sea.

Pure crystals of garnet are still used as gemstones. The gemstone varieties occur in shades of green, red, yellow and orange.^[8] In the USA it is known as the birthstone for January.^[1] It is the state mineral of Connecticut,^[9] New York's gemstone,^[10] and star garnet (garnet with rutile asterisms) is the state gemstone of Idaho.^[11]

Industrial uses[link]

Garnet sand is a good abrasive, and a common replacement for silica sand in sand blasting. Alluvial garnet grains which are rounder are more suitable for such blasting treatments. Mixed with very high pressure water, garnet is used to cut steel and other materials in water jets. For water jet cutting, garnet extracted from hard rock is suitable since it is more angular in form, therefore more efficient in cutting.

Garnet paper is favored by cabinetmakers for finishing bare wood.^[12]

Garnet sand is also used for water filtration media.

As an abrasive garnet can be broadly divided in two categories, blasting grade and water jet grade. The garnet, as it is mined and collected, is crushed to finer grains; all pieces which are larger than 60 mesh (250 micrometers) are normally used for sand blasting. The pieces between 60 mesh (250 micrometers) and 200 mesh (74 micrometers) are normally used for water jet cutting. The remaining garnet pieces that are finer than 200 mesh (74 micrometers) are used for glass polishing and lapping. Regardless of the application, the larger grain sizes are used for faster work and the smaller ones are used for finer finishes.

There are different kinds of abrasive garnets which can be divided based on their origin. The largest source of abrasive garnet today is garnet rich beach sand which is quite abundant on Indian and Australian coasts and the main producers today are Australia and India.^[13]

This material is particularly popular due to its consistent supplies, huge quantities and clean material. The common problems with this material are the presence of ilmenite and chloride compounds. Since the material is being naturally crushed and ground on the beaches for past centuries, the material is normally available in fine sizes only. Most of the garnet at the Tuticorin beach is 80 mesh, and ranges from 56 mesh to 100 mesh size.^{[citation needed]}

River garnet is particularly abundant in Australia. The river sand garnet occurs as a placer deposit.^{[citation needed]}

Rock garnet is perhaps the garnet type used for the longest period of time. This type of garnet is produced in America, China and western India. These crystals are crushed in mills and then purified by wind blowing, magnetic separation, sieving and, if required, washing. Being freshly crushed, this garnet has the sharpest edges and therefore performs far better than other kinds of garnet. Both the river and the beach garnet suffer from the tumbling effect of hundreds of thousands of years which rounds off the edges.

Garnet has been mined in western Rajasthan for the past 200 years, but mainly for the gemstone grade stones. Abrasive garnet was mainly mined as a secondary product while mining for gem garnets and was used as lapping and polishing media for the glass industries. The host rock of the garnet here is garnetiferous mica schist and the total percentage of garnet is not more than 7% to 10%,^{[citation needed]} which makes the material extremely costly and non economical to extract for non-gemstone applications.

See also[link]

• Abrasive blasting

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Hurlbut, Cornelius S.; Klein, Cornelis, 1985, Manual of Mineralogy, 20th ed., Wiley, ISBN 0-471-80580-7
• Color Encyclopedia of Gemstones ISBN 0-442-20333-0

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Garnet

• USGS Garnet locations – USA
• http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/garnet.html
• http://www.mindat.org/min-10272.html
• Mineral Information Institute Garnet
• Blog post on garnets on the Law Library of Congress's blog

Hanako Oku
Background information
Birth name	奥華子 Oku Hanako
Born	(1978-03-20) March 20, 1978 (age 34)
Origin	Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, Songwriter
Instruments	Singing, piano
Years active	2004–present (solo)
Labels	Pony Canyon
Website	http://www.okuhanako.com/
Notable instruments
Piano

Hanako Oku (奥 華子, Oku Hanako^?, born March 20, 1978 in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan) is a pop singer famous in her native Japan for her piano ballads. She rose to fame after performing the end-title track for the Madhouse film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in 2006. She was signed to a major record label the preceding year.

Biography[link]

Oku's musical training began at age 5 with piano lessons, but by age 9 she was also learning the trumpet and was a member of her school's brass band.

In 2004, Oku began to perform on the streets of Tokyo, mainly in Shibuya ward, but once sold 402 CDs in four hours outside Kashiwa railway station. Later that same year she released her first mainstream single Fireworks and performed her debut one-woman show to an audience of 135. Approached by Chiba TV, she made an appearance on the show Chiba Fighting Spirit.

Over the next year she toured western Japan and self produced two more CD singles before releasing an album in April 2005. Soon afterwards she was signed up by record company Pony Canyon.

In April 2006, the animated film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was released, with the theme song Garnet sung by Oku.

Come spring 2007, Oku performed to a sell-out crowd at Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall, and with the release of her album Time Note, she once again performed sold-out concerts there over three nights in July 2007.^[1]

Oku still occasionally busks in Tokyo railway stations, drawing a crowd, and selling her CDs there.^[2]

Since June 2005, Hanako Oku has hosted her KameKameHouse radio show on bayfm78 every Sunday night from 22:30 to 23:00.^[3] At the end of 2009, the show was re-named Lagan de Talk!.^[4] In 2010, Oku began hosting a new radio show E-Tracks Selection once a fortnight on FM OSAKA. Starting January 12, the show airs from 21:00 to 21:30.^[5]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

DVD[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hanako Oku's official website (In Japanese)
• Hanako Oku's profile on Pony Canyon's website (In Japanese)
• Hanako Oku's personal blog (24 February 2010 to present) (In Japanese)
• Hanako Oku's personal blog (21 January 2008 to 24 February 2010) (In Japanese)
• Hanako Oku's personal blog (4 October 2004 to 22 January 2008) (In Japanese)
• KameKameHouse radio show blog (In Japanese)
• Hanako Oku on Myspace

Carmelo Anthony

Anthony at the 2011 Time 100 gala
No. 7 – New York Knicks
Small forward
Personal information
Born	(1984-05-29) May 29, 1984 (age 28)[1] Brooklyn, New York
Nationality	American
High school	Towson Catholic Oak Hill Academy
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
College	Syracuse (2002–2003)
NBA Draft	2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Pro career	2003–present
Career history
2003–2011	Denver Nuggets
2011–present	New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
5× NBA All-Star (2007–2008, 2010–2012) All-NBA Second Team (2010) 4× All-NBA Third Team (2006–2007, 2009, 2012) NBA Rookie Challenge MVP (2005) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004) NCAA Basketball Tournament MOP (2003) NCAA Champion (2003)

Carmelo Kiyan Anthony (born May 29, 1984), nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high school career at Towson Catholic High School and Oak Hill Academy, Anthony attended Syracuse University for college where he led the Orangemen to their first National Championship in 2003. He earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award and was named the Most Valuable Player of NCAA East Regional. After one season at Syracuse University, Anthony left college to enter the 2003 NBA Draft, where he was selected as the third pick by the Nuggets. He was traded to the Knicks several days prior to the 2011 trade deadline.

Since entering the NBA, Anthony has emerged as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league. He was named to the All-Rookie team, to the All-Star team five times and to the All-NBA team five times. Anthony led the Nuggets to two division titles and to the playoffs every year from 2004 to 2010. In 2009, he helped the Nuggets advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1985. As a member of the USA National Team, Anthony won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.

Early life and high school[link]

Anthony was born in the Red Hook projects in Brooklyn, New York City.^[2] He was born to a Puerto Rican father and an African American mother. His father, after whom he is named, died of cancer when Anthony was two years old.^[3] When Anthony turned eight, his family moved to Baltimore, where he honed not only his athletic skills, but his survival skills. Kenny Minor, one of Anthony's childhood friends, said, "from drugs, to killings, to anything you can name that goes on in the roughest parts of town, we've seen and witnessed hands on. Those are the things that teach you toughness and keep you mentally focused on your goals." Sports would serve as an important diversion from the violence and drug dealing that were pervasive in the housing projects a few blocks from the homes of Anthony and his friends.^[4]

Anthony commuted to Towson Catholic High School for his first three years of high school.^[5] During the summer of 1999, Anthony grew five inches into the frame of a 6-5 swingman.^[6] He suddenly became one of the area’s top players and made a name for himself in the area, being named The Baltimore Sun's metro player of the year in 2001,^[7] as well as Baltimore Catholic League player of the year.^[8] During his sophomore year, he averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.^[6] Towson Catholic surged to a record of 26–3 and finished third in the state tournament. Anthony enjoyed a successful high school basketball career as a junior, almost doubling his numbers in scoring and rebounds, averaging 23 points and 10.3 rebounds.^[6] Despite his successful year, Anthony was distracted from all attention and was too eager to listen to friends who guaranteed him he was destined for NBA stardom. Anthony began missing classes and was suspended on several occasions.^[6] He was barely registered a blip on the radar of pro scouts with his skinny frame and lacking strength and felt that he was not ready for the physical demands on the NBA.^[6] In the end, Towson Catholic fell short of the state title, although he was named Baltimore's County Player of the Year, All-Metropolitan Player of the Year and Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year.^[6]

After his junior year, Division I-A coaches were lined up to recruit Anthony to a school on the East Coast, which included University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Syracuse University.^[7] In contrast to contemporary prep-to-pro players like Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady or Amar'e Stoudemire, he decided to declare early and announce that he would attend Syracuse University before his senior year. Although Anthony's grades dropped under a C average and his scores on the ACT were below acceptable standards, he knew that he needed to improve in the classroom to qualify academically for Syracuse.^[6] For his senior year, his mother considered transferring him to a different school.^[6] Anthony first thought of Virginia's Hargrave Military Academy but after talking to Steve Smith, the head coach at basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy, he eventually transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia—winner of the USA Today 2000–01 high school championship—for his senior campaign. During the summer of 2001, Anthony led an AAU Baltimore Select team to the Final Four of the Adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[6] Anthony attracted attention from the NBA by averaging 25.2 points a game in the tournament, which was also attended by Amar'e Stoudemire (who was already being touted as a future lottery pick).^[6] Anthony played at the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival where he helped the East Team win the silver medal.^[6] He tied LeBron James for the tournament scoring lead at 24 points per game and shot 66 percent from the field.^[6] It was there that Anthony and James struck up a friendship.^[6]

Oak Hill Academy entered the 2001–02 campaign boasting a 42-game winning streak. The team’s first tournament win came in The Les Schwab Invitational against Mater Dei High School from Santa Ana, California, with Anthony winning the tournament MVP.^[6] Oak Hill won two more big-time tournaments, including the Nike Academy National Invitational where they knocked off then-No. 1 Westchester High School 77-61 in the final,^[9] and an anticipated game against St. Vincent - St. Mary High School of Akron, Ohio, where he was matched up with high school phenom LeBron James.^[10] James scored 36 points, while Anthony scored 34 points and 11 rebounds to lead Oak Hill to a 72-66 win.^[11] The team ended the season ranked third in the country at 32–1, with their only loss coming in a rematch against Mater Dei, which ended their unbeaten streak at 67.^[9] He averaged 21.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists during his senior year at Oak Hill^[12] and named a USA Today All-USA First Team and a Parade First-Team All-American.^[12][13] He was selected to play in the Jordan Brand Classic, scoring a game-high 27 points, and the McDonald's All-American Team, where he scored 19 points and won the Sprite Slam Jam dunk contest.^[6] His performances at the high school All-Star games, helped lift his reputation with HoopScoop ranking him as the nation's #1 high school senior in the class of 2002,^[14] ranked 2nd by College Basketball News and 3rd by All-Star Sports.^[6] Due to his struggles with the ACT, his family and friends wondered whether Anthony would forget about his college plans to attend Syracuse and move on to the NBA.^[6] He had yet to produce the minimum score of 18, however, in late April Anthony got a 19 and decided to stick with college and prepared for his freshman year at Syracuse.^[6] In April 2009, he was named to the ESPN RISE's all-decade team and was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All-Americans in January 2012.^[15][16]

College career[link]

Anthony played one season at Syracuse University, during the 2002–2003 season, where he averaged 22.1 points (16th in the NCAA, 4th in the Big East) and 10.0 rebounds (19th in the NCAA, 3rd in the Big East, 1st among NCAA Division I freshmen). He helped guide the Orangemen to their first ever NCAA tournament title in 2003. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, minutes played (36.4 minutes per game), field goals made and free throws made and attempted.^[17] Anthony's 33-point outburst against the University of Texas in the Final Four set an NCAA tournament record for most points by a freshman.^[18] In the championship game against the University of Kansas, Anthony had 20 points and 10 rebounds. For his efforts during the NCAA tournament, Anthony earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award.^[19] Afterwards, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim described Anthony as "[...] by far, the best player in college basketball. It wasn't even close. Nobody was even close to him last year in college basketball. That's the bottom line".^[20]

Anthony said that he originally planned to stay at Syracuse for two to three seasons, but having already accomplished everything he set out to do, he chose to abandon his collegiate career (with Boeheim's blessing) and declared himself eligible for the 2003 NBA Draft.^[21][22] Some of Anthony's highlights in his time with Syracuse include being named Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press as a freshman, leading his team to a 30–5 record, capturing the school's first ever NCAA title and being the consensus pick for NCAA Freshman of the Year. He was also named to the All-Big East First Team and was the consensus selection for the Big East Conference Freshman of the Year.^[23]

NBA career[link]

Denver Nuggets (2003–2011)[link]

Rookie season[link]

Anthony's NBA career began on June 26, 2003, when he was chosen in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft draft by the Denver Nuggets. He was selected behind LeBron James (1st overall, Cleveland Cavaliers) and Darko Miličić (2nd overall, Detroit Pistons).^[24] He made his NBA regular season debut on October 29, 2003, in an 80–72 home win against the San Antonio Spurs.^[25] Anthony finished the night with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. In just his sixth career NBA game (November 7 versus the Los Angeles Clippers), Anthony scored 30 points, becoming the second youngest player in NBA history to score 30 points or more in a game (19 years, 151 days; Kobe Bryant was the youngest).^[26] It was the fewest number of games a Nuggets rookie took to score 30 points in a contest since the ABA-NBA merger. On February 9, 2004, against the Memphis Grizzlies, Anthony became the third-youngest player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in NBA history with a 20-point effort in an 86–83 win.^[27]

On February 13, 2004, Anthony participated in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend.^[28] On March 30, 2004, he scored 41 points against the Seattle SuperSonics to set a new Denver Nuggets franchise record for most points in a game by a rookie.^[29] He also became the second-youngest player (19 years, 305 days) to score at least 40 points in a game in NBA history. After winning the Rookie of the Month award for the Western Conference in the month of April, Anthony became the fourth player in NBA history to capture all six of the Rookie of the Month awards in a season.^[13] The others to do so were David Robinson, Tim Duncan and fellow rookie LeBron James.^[23] Anthony was also named NBA Player of the Week twice (March 10, 2004 – March 14, 2004 and April 6, 2004 – April 10, 2004) and was a unanimous NBA All-Rookie First Team selection.^[30] Anthony averaged 21.0 ppg during the season, which was more than any other rookie. Anthony was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, finishing as the runner-up to the Cavaliers rookie standout, James.^[31]

Anthony was a major part in the turn around of the Denver Nuggets from league laughingstock to playoff contender. In the season before Anthony was drafted by the team, the Nuggets finished with a 17–65 record, which tied them for worst in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They finished the 2003–04 campaign with a 43–39 overall record, qualifying them as the eighth seed for the post-season. Anthony became the first NBA rookie to lead a playoff team in scoring since David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs during the 1989–90 season.^[13] In the 2004 NBA Playoffs, the Nuggets faced the top-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. In Anthony's first career playoff game, he had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, in a 106–92 loss at Minnesota.^[32] The Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets in five games.^[33]

2004–05 season[link]

In Anthony's second season, he averaged 20.8 points per game, ranking him 19th in the NBA. Anthony placed 16th in the NBA for points per 48 minutes. On December 4, 2004, versus the Miami Heat, Anthony became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career points.^[34] Only James and Bryant were younger when they reached that plateau. Anthony played again in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge, this time suiting up for the sophomore squad. In front of his home fans of Denver (who were hosting the 2005 All-Star Game), Anthony scored a game-high 31 points to go along with 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, en route to becoming the MVP of the game.^[35]

With Anthony's help, the Nuggets improved their season record by six games from the previous season, ending with a mark of 49–33. The Nuggets finished seventh place in the Western Conference (one spot higher than they finished the previous season). Denver faced the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round, winning the first game in San Antonio, 93–87.^[36] However, the Spurs won the next four games, eliminating the Nuggets from the playoffs.^[37]

2005–06 season[link]

Anthony in a game against the Golden State Warriors during the 2007–08 season.

Anthony played and started in 80 games during the 2005–06 season. He averaged 26.5 ppg (8th, NBA), 2.7 apg, 4.9 rpg and 1.1 spg. His eighth place finish in NBA scoring was the highest finish by a Denver player since the 1990–91 season, when Nuggets guard Michael Adams finished the season sixth in NBA scoring. On November 23, 2005, with the Nuggets facing the two-time defending Eastern Conference Champion Detroit Pistons, Anthony hauled down his 1,000th career rebound. A month later, Anthony recorded a then career-high 45 points in a losing effort against the Philadelphia 76ers. On March 17, 2006, versus the Memphis Grizzlies, he scored 33 points to push his career point total over the 5,000 mark.^[38] Also, in doing so, he became the second youngest player to accomplish that feat (behind James). As the month of March came to a close, the Nuggets finished 11–5, and Anthony was named as the NBA Player of the Month for March. He also took home Player of the Week honors for March 13, 2006 – March 19, 2006.^[39]

During the season, Anthony made five game-winning shots in the last five seconds: at Houston on January 8, 2006;^[40] at home versus Phoenix on January 10;^[41] at Minnesota on February 24;^[42] at Indiana on March 15;^[43] at home versus the Los Angeles Lakers on April 6.^[44] All five of those game-winners were made on jump shots, while the shot against Minnesota was a three-point field goal. Anthony also made a shot in the final seconds to force overtime vs. the Dallas Mavericks on January 6.^[45] He made shots in the final 22 seconds against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 18, 2006,^[46] and the Philadelphia 76ers on March 9, which gave the Nuggets leads they would never lose.^[47] Anthony was named to the All-NBA Third Team for the season, alongside Phoenix' Shawn Marion, Houston's Yao Ming, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Washington's Gilbert Arenas.

The Nuggets finished the season in third place, winning the Northwest Division for the first time in Anthony's career. Denver faced the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers held home court advantage in the series, due to ending the regular season with a better record (Denver finished 44–38; Los Angeles finished 47–35). The Clippers won the first two games of the series on their home floor.^[48] The Nuggets split their games at home in Denver (winning game three; losing game four).^[49] Denver then lost game five at Los Angeles, which eliminated the Nuggets from the playoffs.^[50] After the season, Anthony signed a 5 year, $80 million extension with the Nuggets.^[51]

2006–07 season[link]

Anthony during his tenure with the Nuggets.

In the eighth game of the season (a 117–109 home win against the Toronto Raptors), Anthony tied the franchise record of six-straight 30-point games recorded by Alex English (1982–83 season).^[52] Coincidentally, Alex English witnessed Anthony tie his record as English is now an Assistant Coach with the Toronto Raptors. Anthony fell short of establishing a new record in his ninth game (a 113–109 home victory over the Chicago Bulls) on November 21, as he finished with 29 points.^[53] After the Chicago victory, Anthony again tied the club record of six-straight 30-point games, failing to break it the second time around, as he scored 24 points in his 16th game (a 98–96 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks) on December 6.^[54] During a game at Madison Square Garden on December 16, Anthony was one of many players involved in the infamous Knicks–Nuggets brawl.^[55] Footage showed Anthony laying a punch on the face of New York's Mardy Collins and subsequently backing away. As a result of his actions, Anthony was suspended for 15 games by NBA commissioner David Stern.^[56] Shortly thereafter, the Nuggets traded for Allen Iverson in a bid to form a deadly combination with Anthony. The duo didn't get to play alongside one another until a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 22, which was the day Anthony was allowed to return from his 15-game suspension.^[57] Anthony finished the game with 28 points, as he and Iverson combined for 51 points.

On February 2, 2007, Anthony and teammate J.R. Smith were involved in a minor car accident.^[58] Neither player was injured in the collision. The only information released by the team was that the car Smith was driving belonged to Anthony. Three days later, Anthony recorded his first career triple-double, with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, in a 113–108 loss to the Phoenix Suns.^[59] When the reserves for the Western Conference All-Star team were announced, Anthony was not included on the roster.^[60] However, with Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer out with injuries, NBA commissioner David Stern chose Anthony as a replacement (along with Josh Howard).^[61] Anthony scored 20 points with 9 rebounds in his All-Star debut. Anthony was the first Denver Nugget to be named an All-Star since Antonio McDyess in 2001.

Anthony won Player of the Week honors three times during the season (November 20 – November 26; November 27 – December 3; and February 5 – February 11),^[62][63] and received Player of the Month honors for April, after leading the Nuggets to a 10–1 record for the month and into sixth place in the final regular season standings of the Western Conference. Anthony finished the season as the league's second leading scorer behind Bryant, with an average of 28.9 ppg, while adding 6.0 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.2 spg. He was named to All-NBA Third Team for the second straight year, along with Miami's Dwyane Wade, Detroit's Chauncy Billups, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Orlando's Dwight Howard. For the second time in three years, Anthony and the sixth-seeded Nuggets faced the third-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. In a virtual repeat of the 2005 first round playoff matchup between the two teams, Denver won the first game in San Antonio, 95–89, only to lose the next four games. The Nuggets were eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight year. In the playoff series against the Spurs, Anthony averaged a team-high 26.8 ppg to go along with 8.6 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.0 spg.

2007–08 season[link]

On January 24, 2008, Anthony was named to his second consecutive NBA All-Star Game—his first as a starter.^[64] He finished as the leading vote-getter among Western Conference forwards (1,723,701 votes) and second in overall voting to Kobe Bryant (2,004,940 votes) among all Western Conference players.^[64] On February 8, Anthony scored a then career-high 49 points in a 111–100 home win over the Washington Wizards.^[65] He had a field goal percentage of .760 on a 19-of-25 shooting effort, and his shooting percentage was the second highest in the last 13 years for a player who took 25 or more shots in a game (Bryant was first with a .769 field goal percentage on a 20-of-26 shooting effort, in a 99–94 road victory over the Houston Rockets on December 21, 2000).^[65][66] On March 27, in a home win over the Dallas Mavericks, Anthony scored his 9,000th career point.^[67] He played in 77 games during the regular season, finishing as the NBA's fourth-leading scorer with 25.7 points per game, and had career-highs in rebounds per game (7.4) and steals per game (1.3). He tied his career-high in blocks per game (0.5), and ended the season with 3.4 assists per game, which was the second-best mark of his career.

The Nuggets finished the 2007–08 season with exactly 50 wins (50–32 overall record, tied for the third-best all-time Nuggets record since the team officially joined the NBA in 1976), following a 120–111 home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the last game of the season.^[68] It was the first time since the 1987-88 NBA season that the Nuggets finished with at least 50 wins in a season.^[68] Denver ended up as the 8th seed in the Western Conference of the 2008 Playoffs, and their 50 wins marked the highest win total for an 8th seed in NBA history.^[68] It also meant that for the first time in NBA history, all eight playoff seeds in a conference had at least 50 wins. The Nuggets faced the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers (57–25 overall record) in the first round of the Playoffs. The seven games separating the Nuggets overall record and the Lakers overall record is the closest margin between an eighth seed and a top seed since the NBA went to a 16-team playoff format in 1983–84.^[68] The Lakers swept the Nuggets in four games, marking the second time in NBA history that a 50-win team was swept in a best-of-seven playoff series in the first round.^[69][70] For the series, Anthony averaged 22.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg (playoff career-high), 2.0 apg and 0.5 spg.

2008–09 season[link]

The 2008–09 campaign began with Allen Iverson being traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guard Chauncey Billups.^[71] On December 10, 2008, in a 116–105 home win over the Timberwolves, Anthony tied George Gervin for the most points scored in one quarter in NBA history by scoring 33 points in the third quarter.^[72] Gervin had set the record when he was competing against David Thompson for the scoring title on the last day of the 1977–78 season. Anthony shot 12 of 15 (80%) in the third quarter and finished the game with 45 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. On January 4, 2009, Anthony broke a bone in his hand in a game against the Indiana Pacers. He opted to have the hand splinted rather than have surgery; his recovery time was estimated at three to four weeks. He had already missed three games in late December with a sore elbow. Anthony returned from injury and to the Nuggets starting lineup on January 30, 2009 in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats in which he scored 19 points.^[73] Anthony was suspended for one game by the Nuggets for staying on the court and refusing to leave the game after coach George Karl benched him during a game against the Pacers.^[74]

The Nuggets won the Northwest Division and placed 2nd in the Western Conference, finishing the season with a franchise record-tying 54 wins (54–28 overall). Anthony averaged 22.8 ppg and made a career high 37.1% of his shots from three-point range. After losing in 5 straight playoff appearances (2004–2008), on April 29, 2009, Anthony won his first playoff series when the Nuggets beat the New Orleans Hornets at home 107–86 where Anthony finished with a playoff career high 34 points and 4 steals. In a post-game conference Anthony said "Yeah, finally.. Took me 5 years to get that gorilla off my back, it's a great feeling." The Nuggets beat the Hornets in five games in the first round of the playoffs and proceeded to beat the Dallas Mavericks 4–1 in the conference semifinals with Anthony scoring 30 points in a solid game 5 performance. In the third game of the semifinals, Anthony made a last second three point shot to give the Nuggets the win after being down by 2 points (103–105). Denver advanced to the conference finals, but was eliminated, 4–2, by the Los Angeles Lakers on his birthday.

2009–10 season[link]

Anthony in a preseason game against the Indiana Pacers in Taiwan.

In the opening two games of the 2009–10 season, Anthony totaled 71 points, scoring 30 points in the home opener and 41 the next night, in wins against division rivals Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers respectively.^[75] Anthony became one of three players in the Nuggets' history to open with 70 or more points through two games—tied with Nick Van Exel with 71 points—surpassed only by Alex English who did it twice, in 1985 (79) and 1988 (74).^[76] It was also only the second time since 1987 that the Nuggets started the season 2–0.^[76] In their third game, Anthony scored 42 points,^[77] a game after his 41-point explosion against the Blazers, becoming the first Nugget to have scored back-to-back 40-point games since Michael Adams did it in 1991.^[78] It was the first time they went 3–0 since 1985.^[78] In the month of November, Anthony was named the NBA player of the week and Western Conference Player of the Month, leading the Nuggets to a 12–5 start.^[79][80]

In the fifteenth regular season game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony entered the game leading the league in points per game (30.2) and was the only player in the league to score at least 20 points in every game.^[81] He finished the game with 22 points which was his fifteenth consecutive game with at least 20 points breaking the previous franchise record of 14 straight set by English.^[82] The following game, Anthony scored a career-high 50 points in a home game against the New York Knicks while teammate Chauncey Billups added 32 points in the game, making them only the third duo in NBA history to score at least 50 and 30 points respectively.^[83] Two days later, Anthony scored 19 points in the first quarter—tying a season-high he made in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers—in a home loss to the Timberwolves.^[84] On January 21, 2010, Anthony was named as a starter for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game leading the Western Conference ballots in votes for forwards.^[85] This was Anthony's third All-Star appearance and second as a starter. He finished the game with a team-high 27 points and 10 rebounds, in a losing effort as the team bowed to the Eastern Conference team.^[86]

In the team's first game after the All-Star Game, the Nuggets visited the Cleveland Cavaliers in a highly anticipated game with the Cavaliers having a 13-game winning streak. While LeBron James posted a triple-double of 43 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists, Anthony compiled 40 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in an overtime win as Anthony nailed a jumper over the outstretched arms of James with just 1.9 seconds left in the game, ending the Cavaliers' win streak.^[87][88] On March 26, 2010, Anthony made a game-winning shot at the buzzer, after missing his first attempt, against the Toronto Raptors.^[89] The Nuggets concluded the 2009–10 regular season with a 53–29 record and the Northwest Division title for the second straight season facing the Utah Jazz in the first-round.^[90] In Game 1, Anthony scored a playoff-career high 42 points.^[91][92] This also matched a franchise-playoff high for scoring in a single playoff game, tied with Alex English. However, the Nuggets lost the series to the Utah Jazz 4–2, with Anthony averaging a playoff career-high 30.7 points per game, along with 8.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals.

2010–11 season[link]

On November 15, 2010, Anthony had 20 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for the first 20–20 game of his career against the Phoenix Suns.^[93] He also hit game-winning jumper at the buzzer against the Bulls on November 26, 2010.^[94] In December 2010, Anthony missed five games, including a game on Christmas Day due to the death of his sister Michelle. He returned to the lineup in a game against the Kings on January 1, 2011.^[95]

New York Knicks (2011–present)[link]

On February 22, 2011, Anthony, along with point guard Chauncey Billups, were traded to the New York Knicks in a multi-player deal also involving the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[96][97] Anthony chose to wear number 7 with the Knicks, as his former number 15 was retired by the Knicks for Earl Monroe and Dick McGuire. Anthony's first game with the Knicks was a 114–108 win against the Milwaukee Bucks in which he scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds and an assist. In game 2 of the NBA playoffs in Boston, Anthony tied a playoff career high with 42 points and also had 17 rebounds and 6 assists in a Knicks loss. The Knicks ended up losing to the Boston Celtics in 4 games in the first round of the playoffs.^[98]