Carmelo Anthony made the playoffs in each of the first 10 seasons of his NBA career, but he has sat out the past three postseasons as a member of the Knicks. The merits of Anthony as a player have been much debated throughout his career, with many doubting that he has the ability to lead a team to the promised land that is an NBA title. The forward’s college coach, Jim Boeheim weighed in on his former player’s title chances, and noted they’re not good, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes.
“He’s unlikely to win an NBA title,” Boeheim told the Syracuse Post-Standard. “He’s never been on a team that even had a remote chance of winning an NBA title. As a player, all you can do is try to make your team better and every team he’s been on he’s made them a lot better. Denver hadn’t done anything prior to him getting there and he took them into the playoffs. They weren’t going to beat the Lakers or the Spurs. In those years, they won the championship most of the time.”
“He wants to win in New York,” Boeheim continued. “I know the general opinion is if [new additions] Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose are healthy then they’ll be a better team. It’s just a question of if they will be healthy. They’ve been off and on the last two years. They’ve both been hurt. I think if both those guys are healthy, it certainly would make a big difference and Kristaps Porzingis continuing to progress. If those things happen, they can be better.”
‘Melo took some heat earlier this month after he told ESPN’s Marc Stein that he’d still consider his career a success if he failed to win a championship. “I would be very happy walking away from the game knowing that I’ve given the game everything I have, knowing I played on a high level at every level: high school, college, won [a championship at Syracuse] in college and possibly three gold medals,” Anthony said.
Is Boehim correct? Will Anthony’s career end without him hoisting a championship banner? What are your feelings about Boeheim’s candor regarding his former player’s title chances? Sound off in the comments section below.
Melo can advance to the conference finals with an additional high caliber shooter,.like Korver from Atlanta..
Not with the Knicks anytime soon. He’d have to get traded or wait out his contract for free agency. Cavs are too strong for the Knicks. He’s gotta do a durant, can’t beat them, join them.
He’s not getting past Pacers regardless of what shooter they get.
Very unlikely he wins a title. His best shot is signing with a contender when he’s nothing more than a bench guy.
Even MJ couldn’t do it alone.
Contrary to what Boeheim is saying, Melo doesn’t make his teammates better. This is why he will never win a championship. He won’t make sacrifices to elevate his teammates because he’s always been a selfish, stats oriented player. It’s too late to change that because the Knicks have zero depth and he’s past his prime.