NBA: Carmelo Anthony to follow LeBron James footsteps?
Carmelo Anthony joined the NBA free-agency recently, after remaining with the Denver Nuggets for seven consecutive years and has reportedly been contemplating on what choices he has in the league. The speculation has raised many questions; the most asked being will he be the next LeBron James.
Carmelo has been to the Denver Nuggets what James was to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite making to the playoffs like James, he has yet to win a championship with Nuggets. Various sources say Carmelo is extremely unhappy with the team and on many occasions wanted to be traded but the nuggets hesitated to do so, because without him the franchise has not much to offer to its fans.
Some say Carmelo should stick with the team and learn from the mistake James made almost two months ago. Critics are already taking a shot at Carmelo saying he will be selfish and leave the team in order to form a powerful trio or a duo copying his fellow 2003 NBA draft batch mates, Dwyane Wade and James.
There is no doubt the decision is in Melo’s hand and the fact he is the youngest, most powerful player the free-agency has to offer, he has been made the subject of media frenzy.
Experts say Carmelo should be taking certain things under consideration if he wants to leave the Nuggets, as he would not want to create a Melo Sage like James. Fans burning his jerseys, legends like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird telling him he is a fool. Now nobody wants that unless they enjoy being thrashed by everyone around them and live off their rest of their lives in self-pity, not that James is like that but one could see how the media has turned him into some sort of demonic figure.
Carmelo certainly needs to be cautious before taking the next step. The 26-year-old has a long way to go and has time to add a championship title to his accolades. For a second, let’s assume if he does decide to depart from the Nuggets what will happen. Carmelo will be taunted on regular basis by his former team; moreover Denver fans will call him a coward and compare him to LeBron constantly.
So how will Carmelo benefit from all this?
Needless to say, he might be a great player and is amongst the top elite, and a true contender yada yada. It still does not change the fact he is a player who has been in the league for over seven years, and was one of the highest picks in the NBA 2003 drafting season he has barely ever come close to obtaining a NBA Championship title.
Joining another team could greatly benefit Anthony, as he could form a strong duo or trio. Much hearsay about New York Knicks being interested in Anthony is going around. Experts say he could form a strong duo with Amare’ Stoudemire and together they could govern a few teams in the league.
Even so, most sports connoisseurs say a true player actually proves his might when he takes his whole team to a championship and wins it, Kobe Bryant being the prime example. Kobe won his first championship title at the age of 21 and since then has won 4 more championships with a total of five under his belt. Therefore, James is being constantly picked on, the fact that he might have 29.3 PPG career average, does not diminish the fact that he ran off to join virtually the most powerful trio formed in the past decade, thinking he’d win a championship title.
So what is the best thing for Carmelo to do?
Carmelo has three pathways in front of him:
1. He could leave the Denver Nuggets, which will lead to total annihilation of his image but will guarantee him a fresh start and could give him a good run to the championship.
2. He could remain true to the Nuggets, and keep faith in his boring supporting cast and make another shot towards the championship.
3. He could do what nobody could think in their wildest dreams to join the Oklahoma City Thunders, a team with an amazing young supporting cast. It would greatly benefit the team and Carmelo, as he will form an uncanny trio with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
The decision is in Carmelo’s hands, either accept the “next LeBron James” title or prove to be a hero and show his lonesome team a miracle, by bringing a championship ring to them.
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