Carmelo Anthony
By Ross Guity aka R.G. Major
Having just recently celebrated his third decade of life on Earth and missing the postseason for the first time of his 11-year career, prolific scoring forward Carmelo Anthony has decided to opt out of his current deal with the New York Knicks and will test the free agent market in unrestricted mode this summer in the hopes of not only an immensely fruitful payday, but most importantly for him to be an integral part of a legit championship-contending team as he enters his prime years on the basketball court.
With the Knicks adding an abundance of NBA title pedigree via the hiring of recently-retired five-time champion player Derek Fisher as their new head coach during this off-season and President of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson towards the end of this past regular season, the team’s roster as presently constituted is still a long ways towards competing for the coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy, hence the decision made by Melo, who in 2K13-14 averaged 27.4 points and a career-best 8.1 rebounds per contest in 77 games, and also set the single-game franchise record with a 62-spot against the Charlotte Bobcats at Madison Square Garden.
The knock on Anthony has always been the low assist totals (3.1 per game in 2K13-14) and the high volume of shots he takes every game, but to me, Melo is among the most gifted and prolific bucket-makers at the small forward position that the league has ever seen since the likes of Hall-of-Famers Bernard King, Larry Bird and George Gervin. So the big question is – where will Melo land this off-season? The Chicago Bulls? That would make basketball sense because they are in dire need of more offensive weaponry and Anthony definitely would fit the bill in the CHI. The Houston Rockets? Sounds great as well with all the talent on their squad, but they already have All-Star James Harden in place. The Los Angeles Lakers? After having one of their worst seasons in franchise history minus their future Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant for the majority of it, they can most certainly use Melo’s game on their roster.
Or maybe he has a huge change of heart and re-signs with New York for big money. Whatever Melo decides, let’s hope that it’ll be with PURE, championship SOUL within him for the near future!