Carmelo Anthony leaving the game on his own terms will make it that much better when he eventually enters the Hall of Fame.
Carmelo Anthony leaving the game on his own terms will make it that much better when he eventually enters the Hall of Fame.
And while it notably took Melo a long time to find a role, he is rolling with Portland, having hit clutch bucket after clutch bucket in the bubble for the Blazers.
Let’s make no mistake about it, Anthony should never have been out of the NBA, so those saying he is owed an apology and that the analytics about him were asinine are correct in a sense.
However, in order to give Melo the proper credit now, we should be real as to why this current stint is special, since he did struggle in his opportunities with Oklahoma City and Houston. Which led to the common criticisms of his game—that he stops ball movement, is a volume shooter and is not a defensive stalwart—being magnified.
But even if it took a while, Anthony is now proving he can thrive without being the guy, which I believe will help when we look back at when he was. Because though it’s easy to say he wasn’t a winner, that would ignore his early career in Denver and the fact that he led the New York Knicks to the playoffs on multiple occasions, including their only series win since I graduated from high school.
And now he’s found a home back in the league where he belongs, playing meaningful minutes and knocking down shots, which is reminding people who Carmelo Anthony is, complete with a three to the dome.