Carmelo Anthony said on Thursday that his business interests played a role in him staying with the Knicks.

"I just couldn't leave from that perspective. There were so many opportunities that I started to build upon here in New York City, business opportunities, different situations, things I've already started to build here," Anthony said at the Bloomberg Business Summit, according to Newsday and the New York Post.

"I just felt if I was to leave I would have to start all over in the next place, meet new people, build that foundation up once again, and it took me a lot to build that foundation and get it up and going to where it's at right now."

Anthony turned down offers from the Bulls and Lakers, among other teams, to sign a five-year, $124 million deal with the Knicks in July.

Anthony said during the panel discussion that he had no interest in signing a shorter deal, such as the two-year pact that LeBron James signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"I plan on ending my career here so it wasn't for me to go out there and try to strike a two-year deal and then have to go through this situation in two years," he said. "I'm not doing that [free agency] ever again. I would never do that again. But I did it and I experienced it and it's behind me now."