The necessary disclosure for this column is that, as a Syracuse University graduate, I’m predisposed to stick up for Carmelo Anthony on just about all fronts.
He arrived on campus a few years after I graduated and finally won an NCAA basketball championship for our school during his freshman season.
Therefore, I’m a little biased. That said, I’d stick up for Melo when it comes to the recent headlines he made whether he went to Syracuse, Pitt, Michigan State, Baylor, Washington or Georgeto….
Well, maybe not Georgetown.
But, last week, the retired NBA All-Star got some folks riled up because he told “BasketNews” that he wouldn’t trade his three Olympic gold medals for a single NBA ring.
Do you agree with Carmelo Anthony's position? ???? pic.twitter.com/sMUxXrQXs2
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 9, 2024
“I’ve never been asked that question. No,” Anthony said to Donatas Urbonas. “It’s a different level of, I would say, pride that you have to have when you’re wearing USA across your chest, or you’re wearing Lithuania across your chest. It’s a totally different feeling than Knicks, New York across your chest.”
Anthony took heat from some basketball fans for that quote. People didn’t believe he was being honest. Others thought he was minimizing what winning a title would’ve meant to one of the many cities where Anthony played in his career — particularly New York.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith sounded flat-out offended that Anthony would say such a thing.
Stephen A. Smith rips Carmelo Anthony for saying he wouldn't trade his gold medals for an NBA ring
"That is maybe the most ridiculous comment I've ever heard come out of his mouth. ... I couldn't believe he said something so utterly ridiculous." pic.twitter.com/CYy43u2IAG
See AlsoWestmoreland County campus clippings: Former Seton Hill basketball player headed to GreeceGreensburg Central Catholic primed to follow Samir Crosby’s lead | Trib HSSNNew Kensington's Kings & Queens of the Court gathers healthy number of young players at outdoor hoopsSeton LaSalle looking to maintain momentum after .500 campaign | Trib HSSN— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) August 15, 2024
The general blowback is that Anthony is only saying that because he never actually won an NBA title.
On today’s episode of ZASLOW SHOW 2.0 - @BleavNetwork
Only Carmelo Anthony takes gold medals over an NBA Championship…..,
iTunes: https://t.co/RfWoGo4MfJ
Spotify: https://t.co/L6ll68aKs6
????: https://t.co/QCqFAHRK1N pic.twitter.com/NCOqrLGCmC— Jonathan Zaslow (@ZaslowShow) August 14, 2024
Speaking like someone who never won a NBA championship.
— B.B. Bundy (@BB_Bundy) August 19, 2024
Of course Melo would say this, he's never experienced an NBA championship and is trying to cope. For American basketball players, an NBA title is far harder to achieve, no matter how he tries to spin it.
— Tyler Key (@TylerRobertKey) August 19, 2024
Na he’s gaslighting now
If he had a ring he would never say this
— NoahMuse (@JoakimMuse) August 19, 2024
National radio host Zach Gelb called out Anthony for being disingenuous during a commentary that aired on the Infinity Sports Network.
“I get it’s a tremendous honor to represent your country at the Olympics. But does anyone actually believe him,” Gelb asked. “No one remembers that Carmelo won three gold medals, but everyone remembers that he never won an NBA title. And regardless as to what he says, there’s no way I would rather have three gold medals compared to one NBA championship. If Carmelo was actually being honest, he would share that same sentiment.”
Perhaps.
However, even if Anthony is less than transparent in his answer, wouldn’t it be nice if some in the American basketball community actually did feel that way?
These days, I get the sense that Team USA Basketball’s main goal is just to avoid losing gold, more than winning it.
That’s no one’s fault. It’s just the nature of America’s place high atop the basketball ecosystem — but with many other countries making rapid gains.
To hear Anthony’s appreciation of actually winning gold resonates more than just breathing a sigh of relief because the most recent Olympic team in Paris avoided “only” winning silver or bronze.
Or worse yet, perhaps nothing at all. And if you watched those last two games of this year’s tournament against quality teams from Serbia and France, that prospect loomed.
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It also kind of feels like, for a lot of modern-era Team USA players, being named to the roster to represent the country is less of a valued accomplishment than the angst of failing to make it if they are the last player or two to be left off of it.
To hear Anthony talk, that wasn’t the case for him.
“When we talk about global sport, a medal means something totally different than an NBA championship,” Anthony said. “They both have their own separate meanings, but winning a gold medal? It’s the passion, it’s the pride that you have, not just for a city or a state, for a whole nation, for a whole country you’re winning for.”
In North American team sports, international accomplishment is almost never a bigger deal than a club sports championship. The 1980 Miracle On Ice Team is a rare exception. But there was a lot more sociologically and politically that went into that gold medal than just about any other American Team Gold medal since then.
A lot of those guys from that team are in Anthony’s boat in the sense that they didn’t win a Stanley Cup. But I bet no one would question any of them if they preferred their gold from Lake Placid to holding the silver of Lord Stanley. Yet Anthony’s remarks are being met with scorn in certain circles.
Is Anthony rationalizing or subconsciously validating his career after being unable to win a championship after 19 seasons? Maybe.
After so many debates over players kneeling during the Star Spangled Banner in recent years, though, I’m not going to begrudge a player who took so much pride in standing on a podium with a gold medal around his neck three times while it was playing.
Look, I’m not sure if I fully believe Anthony, either. But I sure would like to.
So I think I will.
Or at least I’m not going to rip him for saying what he did.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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