Basketball Immortality: Carmelo Anthony

I was upstairs in my college house back on February 21st, 2011. I heard a lot of screaming from my roommates. “The Knicks got MELO! The Knicks got MELO!!” At first, I didn’t believe it. They did what? To this day I remember the pure joy I felt in this moment. I ran around the kitchen for at least 5 minutes. He is going to save the franchise. We’re not going to suck anymore! We had just brought over Amare Stoudemire that year and he famously said, “the Knicks are back” and stat was backing up his talk on the court. Now we had a legit dynamic duo. The Bockers had not won a playoff game since 2001. And it felt more like a lifetime ago. The streak would finally end, and Carmelo wanted to be here. However, because of uncertainty the lockout brought to the upcoming off-season, no one was willing to wait until that summer to do business. They parted with some key pieces in that trade. And the team never really felt complete during his tenure. This Saturday the Brooklyn native will enter basketball immortality. A first ballot hall of famer. Who could forget his first game at MSG? “Tell the world I’m coming home” still rings in my head from that emotional night 14 years ago. Im happy for the man. But the fan in me often wanted more. One playoff series win in 7 seasons. (Phil Jackson did those teams no favors) However, we held Anthony to a high standard. He could have easily been rookie of the year in that stacked 2003 draft class, coming off his national title at Syracuse. And he was an important piece of the loaded 2008 redeem team. I do not remember him missing a shot as I watched those Olympic games at 5 am. He was a phenomenal international player. But part of being the man, is dealing with the criticism if things do not go well. And far too often that was the case here in New York. It’s OK to admit it didn’t go as planned. And we can argue all day on who deserves the most blame for that. This weekend I am going to think about the good times. Because there were those too. The Easter game in 2012 against the Bulls, the 62-point game at the garden, and the 54-win season in 2013 (when Carmelo won the scoring title and finished 3rd in MVP voting) The talent was never in question. He was truly a gifted scorer of the basketball at all three levels. Because I did not get to see Patrick Ewings full career, this is the first true Knick of our generation to make it to Springfield. So, for these next few days, we can put some of our frustration with the past to bed. As a fan of this team, we associate Anthony with the roller coaster that was this franchise at the time. It makes you appreciate some of the stability we currently have. But say what you want, the kid from Red Hook, Brooklyn lived out his dream. And on basketballs biggest stage he became a superstar. A midrange master with next level footwork, and the strength to get to all his spots with ease. When he was in rhythm there was not a thing you could do to stop him. Kobe once called him the hardest matchup in the league. So, cheers to Carmelo for a hell of a career. A tip of the cap…or in this case a three to the dome.