WATCH: Knicks Legend Delivers Alma Mater's Commencement Speech

New York Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony returned to Syracuse University to deliver perhaps his most vital assist yet under the roof of the JMA Wireless Dome.

Anthony, the newly-minted Basketball Hall of Famer, gave the commencement speech at Syracuse on Sunday, giving the Orange's Class of 2025 words to live by as they move on to their careers.

"You crossed that stage. You’ve earned your degree, and you’re stepping into this world with fresh energy and big dreams," Anthony said. "I know that feeling all too well because I felt it, again, right here at Syracuse."

"I have to be honest with you, success wasn’t easy, and it’s never easy ... There were times that I doubted myself, times that I got injured, times that I was criticized, times I had to choose between what was easy and what was right."

View Anthony's full speech below, courtesy of The Orange Zone Podcast on YouTube.

Anthony spent but one year at Syracuse but is forever associated with the university after he guided the vaunted men's basketball program to its first national championship in 2003. The then-freshman was the leading scorer at the NCAA Tournament and took home Most Outstanding Player honors home from New Orleans. Anthony put in a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double in the final victory over Kansas.

The Brooklyn native played that success into third overall pick honors at the 2003 NBA Draft, and later made his way from Denver to New York in a 2011 trade. Anthony went on to become one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history and, to date, is one of just seven to earn at least 10,000 points in a Knick uniform.

Since then, Anthony has become equally renowned for his off-the-court endeavors and encouraged his fellow Orange alumni to follow in that example.

"Your path won’t be a straight line, and that’s okay," Anthony said. "I thought basketball would be my whole story, but life had other plans. I found myself just drawn to other passions: business, philanthropy, storytelling. I became an entrepreneur. I started a podcast. I stepped into board rooms and took conversations about culture, ownership, equity, and I realized I was more than just an athlete."

"[You're] more than just your major, more than your resume, more than others expect you to be. You don’t have to fit in a box, and I want to tell you that, you don’t have to fit in a box."

The Anthony name will live on at Syracuse come next year as well. Carmelo's son Kiyan, currently finishing up his work at Long Island Lutheran, is set to follow in his father's footsteps and join the men's basketball team currently led by Adrian Autry.

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