Carmelo Anthony insisted he never lost confidence in his own abilities during his time out of the NBA after moving up into 11th place on the all-time scoring list.
Anthony landed a pull-up jumper in the fourth quarter of the Portland Trail Blazers' victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, the bucket carrying him past Hakeem Olajuwon to sit just outside the top 10 for points.
The 36-year-old finished with a team-high 26 points in a 125-121 triumph that sees Portland improve to 22-15 in the Western Conference. He is averaging 14.1 points for the season, his second with the franchise.
The third overall pick in 2003 appeared at one stage to be out of the league, playing just 10 games in the 2018-19 season. After failing to find a role with the Houston Rockets, he was subsequently waived by the Chicago Bulls following a trade.
While some may have believed his NBA time was up when he did not feature for just over a year, Anthony always retained the belief he could still have an impact at the highest level.
"I did give the people what they wanted, I was away from the game for a year and change, they wanted me to get out of the game and retire," Anthony told the media.
"You hear all that stuff, man. I've never lost confidence in myself. I've given this game too much to lose any kind of confidence out there.
"I believe in myself, if nobody else believes in me. That's the key - believing in yourself.
"I believe in my abilities, my skill level, my talent, my knowledge for the game of basketball, but also my love for the game of basketball. When you have all of that in one, nobody can take that joy away from you."
Anthony now has 26,955 points in a career that started with the Denver Nuggets. He joined the New York Knicks via a trade in 2011 and is seventh all-time in points scored for the franchise.
As for the all-time list, Elvin Hayes (27,313) occupies 10th position ahead of Anthony, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) sits top.
Asked about passing Hall of Fame center Olajuwon, Anthony replied: "I can't put it into words, it's a great feeling to know that I'm still able to do this and continue to have opportunities to move up on that list.
"Any time you can start creeping up on a top-10 list, that's when things start getting special. I'm here, I'm happy and I'm excited."