The Real Melo
In the NBA optimism is magical. It makes the difference for players that return from horrific injuries, such as Gordon Hayward. The power of positive thinking creates once, scratch that, twice-in-a-lifetime moments, making Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double a repeatable feat.
But optimism can run its course. For every Hayward there are Brandon Roys whose bodies fail their potentially illustrious careers. In the NBA optimism is balanced by reality.
For Anthony, the reality is that is past precedes him. In 2016, amidst Team USA’s gold medal Olympic Basketball run, Anthony’s will to win in the NBA was put on notice.
Speaking with ESPN’s Marc Stein, Anthony shared the solace he finds in his career thus far.
"“Most athletes don’t have an opportunity to say that they won a gold medal, better yet three gold medals,” Anthony told ESPN. “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. “I can look back on it when my career is over — if I don’t have an NBA championship ring — and say I had a great career.”"
Accepting one’s lot in life is an amazing life skill. Through his NBA career, Anthony has matured from a player who forced his way out of a small-market Denver Nuggets team to a eventual basketball hall-of-famer.
No amount of experience however, can replace the will to win.