NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony moved to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia for his senior year of high school. Despite enrolling in one of the country’s finest prep basketball programs, Anthony alleges he was forced to leave his previous high school due to racism.

“A lot of people don’t know, I got kicked out of Towson Catholic my junior year because I had braids,” Anthony told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on All the Smoke.

“It was racism and I didn’t know I was part of racism at that time.”

Anthony led Towson Catholic High School to a 26-3 record as a junior, receiving Baltimore County Player of the Year, All-Metropolitan Player of the Year, and Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year honors. Anthony was an average player throughout his first two years of high school basketball and it wasn’t until his junior year that he began to garner attention from East Coast institutions. However, Anthony reports that Towson Catholic was still focused on his braids.

“You’re walking around and the monsignor and archdiocese are looking at you like, ‘you gotta take your hair out.’ I’m like, ‘no, I’m not doing that.’ My tie was crooked, you got detention,” Anthony explained. “They were picking on me.”

“By the time my junior year ended, I had so many detentions accumulated that I had to come back that summer in order to get my report card,” Anthony said. “I’m like, I’m done with that. I’m not about to come in the summer to scrub tables and wash books – it’s summertime. So I got kicked out.”

After declaring early for college basketball at Syracuse University, Anthony finished his high school career at Oak Hill Academy, where he led the team to a championship during his senior season.

Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images