Carmelo Anthony and Jim Boeheim won a Gold Medal together this summer at the Olympics, but Melo’s college coach doubts the superstar forward will ever hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Boeheim, who has never shied away from voicing his opinion on Anthony’s NBA fortunes, can’t picture the 32-year-old adding a ring to his Hall of Fame résumé.
Team USA’s “unquestioned leader” retired from international competition this summer.
Jim Boeheim on Carmelo Anthony's role Olympic team: 'He was the unquestioned leader' https://t.co/9cZUuz0BQj pic.twitter.com/aRhhuuzBJV
— syracuse.com (@syracusedotcom) August 23, 2016
Per the Syracuse Post-Standard:
Carmelo Anthony, who was playing in his fourth Olympic Games, led the United States to a gold medal. In doing so, Anthony became the first men’s basketball player to be on three gold medal-winning teams. […] “Carmelo was the unquestioned leader of this team,” Boeheim said Tuesday. “I thought he did a great job.”
Boeheim knew that Anthony had suffered through the last few seasons on mediocre New York Knicks teams. The Olympics, Boeheim felt, would be good for his former star. […] “I think it meant a lot to him because he’s had a couple bad years obviously in New York,” Boeheim said. “The reason I wanted him to go was to have a good basketball experience for himself and to be the leader of this team, which we felt we needed with all the other veteran guys either being hurt or just choosing not to play. I think it was important for him to go. He did a great job. He really did a great job throughout the whole tournament.”
“He’s unlikely to win an NBA title,” Boeheim said. “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. […] But he’s always made his team better. It’s obvious. You look back on your total basketball experience and he had a great high school team, he won the NCAA championship and he’s won three gold medals in the Olympics. That’s a pretty good resume.”
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