Carmelo Anthony, having endured years of NBA disappointment and feeling pushed to speak out on social issues, chases an Olympic-record third men’s basketball gold medal with the Americans in Rio.
The 32-year-old forward is the oldest man on the US collection of NBA stars, having endured a humbling bronze-medal showing at Athens in 2004 and led a revival that brought gold in 2008 at Beijing and 2012 at London.
Anthony became the first man on four US Olympic hoops teams by saying yes when many other top players, including LeBron James and Stephen Curry, declined to play in Rio. “A lot of people were telling me, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t do it.’ But I actually enjoy it,” Anthony said. “It’s also an opportunity to go get another gold medal and I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity.”
He’s a nine-time All-Star and a former league scoring champion on a struggling NBA team. Since joining the New York Knicks from Denver in 2011, the team has won only one playoff series. The Knicks have not made the playoffs the past three years.
But with the Olympians, Anthony has enjoyed his greatest success. “I feel pretty good about this team,” he said. “We’ve still got some things we can get better at, get used to playing with one another. But I like this team. Sometimes it comes easy to us. Sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s a matter of having the opportunity out there.”
It’s a great one for Anthony, who has averaged 24.9 points and 6.6 rebounds a game over 13 NBA campaigns. But he knows how hard it is to win gold against a field of ever-improving global rivals. “I know we’re expected to win the gold. We want to win the gold. But the process is not easy,” Anthony said. “I don’t want guys to think just because we’re the best players in the world that it’s going to be easy, because it’s not.”
Anthony has taken just as outspoken a role on social issues, calling for unity on ESPN’s awards telecast, marching with protesters in his hometown of Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody and speaking out on gun violence, including the killings of unarmed African-Americans by police and the shootings of police officers.
“The system is broken. Point blank period. It has been this way forever. Our anger should be towards the system. If the system doesn’t change we will continue to turn on the TVs and see the same thing,” Anthony posted on Instagram.
“Shooting 11 cops and killing five will not work. We need to come together more than anything at this time. We need each other.”
Anthony’s desire for an end to gun violence is greater than even his longing for a third gold medal. “It’s unfortunate, it’s sad,” Anthony said.
“You can’t really put into words what’s going on throughout the whole country, throughout the whole world. For us as a country, we have to stand united. We have to come together.”
Having the Olympics come around at the moment the message needs delivering was opportune, Anthony said. “The timing could not have been any better for us as a country, having a chance to come together and being united then go over there on the biggest stage you can possibly play on and have that voice and represent something that is bigger than us as players,” Anthony said.