George Karl happy with Carmelo Anthony’s renewed approach towards the game – NBA Update
When LeBron James was drafted as the number one pick in the 2003 draft, everybody knew that he will win a championship one day or another. The fact that it took him nine years to do so, speaks volumes of the learning curve that
is required to win a ring in NBA. Those nine years saw LeBron making his teammates look better every day on the court and playing for the team rather than himself.
A pick apart that year, another player by the name of Carmelo Anthony was drafted by the Denver Nuggets. He had all the talent and flair to be as great as LeBron. But, for him, it was all about his personal stats. Carmelo never
wanted to be a team player, and this was one of the many facts that frustrated his head coach, George Karl.
However the Olympics stint with LeBron and Kobe Bryant changes something in Melo and before he returned to the building from where it all started for him on Sunday, Karl hailed his former star for finally understanding what success
in NBA is all about;
“I’ve said I feel that Carmelo is going to win a championship someday,” Karl said. “He’s going to figure out that the numbers and the stats sheets aren’t important. It’s the scoreboard and the intangibles that make winners champions.”
Carmelo has been the heart and soul of the Knicks this season. He is scoring 26.8 points per game, second only to Bryant, and is putting extra effort on his defence. The result has come in the form of a renewed belief which has
helped his side storm to the best record (15-5) in the Eastern Conference, and in the process they have demolished the defending champions and probably the most formidable team in the league, Miami Heat, by twenty points twice.
Melo has done so far to suggest that he is no longer a player, who wants to remain in the limelight, and has been making an attempt to create more plays for his teammates this season. The best part has come on defence, where he
has started to put his body on line – five stitches on the middle finger of left hand being a testament to that. In short, Melo has started to assert himself as a leader and Karl, being the man who know the forward inside out, is happy that the development
has finally taken place, albeit when he is a Knick.
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