New York Knicks superstar scorer Carmelo Anthony is entering his 13th NBA Season with some doubts on his health and future in the Big Apple. Anthony underwent season-ending left knee surgery after last season's All-Star Game in New York. Team Orthopedist Dr. Answorth Allen performed the left knee patella tendon debridement and repair, per NBA.com.

But the 31-year-old thinks that he could still perform at a high level for years to come. He told ESPN, "I wasn't a guy who would run straight to surgery for anything. But I think now, [taking] care of this really put me in position to perform at a high level for the next four or five years."

Anthony has about a year left on his prime as most NBA players tend to decline at age 32, and with his knee surgery, it is not too much think that he is close to the downside of his career. Prime examples of players who were not the same after knee injuries are former Knicks players Allan Houston, Bernard King, and Amar'e Stoudemire.

Houston played a total 70 games from 2003 to 2005 before retiring due to knee issues. King tore his ACL, which deprived him of his explosiveness, and Stoudemire lost a step after multiple knee surgeries, per Complex.com.

The eight-time All-Star maybe a different case as he doesn't rely on his athleticism score and be effective. "The way that I play, the way that I know how to pace myself, the way I know how to pick my spots out on the basketball court, I'm not a guy who's playing above the rim every play so it works in my favour," Anthony said via ESPN.

Even though he signed a five-year, $129 million deal last season, the Baltimore-native has been involved in trade talks this past offseason. However, Anthony made it clear that he belongs in NYC as he told New York Times, "I'm here to stay."

There is no doubt that Melo will carry the Knicks this season as Phil Jackson put on a solid team that can possibly sneak into the playoffs due to the weak Eastern Conference. The addition of free agents Arron Afflalo, Robin Lopez, Kevin Seraphin, Kyle O'Quinn, Sasha Vujacic and Derrick Williams, as well as rookies Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant, certainly will help improve the team that won 17 games last year.

Anthony will be at the center of it all, and winning the NBA Championship is their primary goal for the upcoming season. "That's always going to be the goal. Whether we get there or not depends on us and what we're doing. That's always our big-picture goal," Melo said per another report from ESPN.