How a NBA SUPERSTAR became the most unwanted liability? Carmelo Anthony's Career

Photo courtesy of Clutch Points

At the snap of a finger the entire NBA was hit with a wave of efficiency Steph Curry small ball Warriors led the three-point revolution while players like Carmelo Anthony were slowly phased out the timing could not have been worse for Melo he was traded to OKC in the midst of a breakup with his wife Lala and separated from his only son Melo's personal life quickly spiraled downwards and his game followed suit I'm not talking Nuggets Melo or a hoodie Melo or even Alan Thicke Melo just Melo Carmelo Anthony has had many iterations but it appears as though as time being a legitimate NBA superstar is over at the age of 34 now what in the name of volume shooting happened as do all stories it starts with Carmelo serratus the corn road 18 year old that carried Syracuse to a national championship victory in 2003 was excellent a popular fun and promising player the entire country enjoyed the Denver Nuggets select.

Carmelo as after infamously being drafted behind NBA champs LeBron James in Darko Milicic, Melo lifted the Nuggets in a playoff contention in a relatively short matter of time presumably setting the franchise on the fast track to an NBA Finals unfortunately for both the Nuggets and Melos career he had his eyes fixated on a city so nice they named it twice as well as the wayward franchise that calls at home the New York Knicks Melo was mostly good in New York but due to circumstances some of their self-inflicted eating up a max deal he never made it past the second round of seven seasons in fact the most iconic moment of Melos tender New York might actually belong to Jeremy Lin as the loudest narrative from that era of Knicks basketball has nothing to do with Melo but everything to do with Linsanity which is obviously another story for another time.

What was weird about this time especially during the end of his stay with the Knicks was the birth of both OD and Olympic Melo to ideal iterations of Melo that would never grace the NBA hardwood it came together said we were gonna do this as one it's not about one individual and we show that and we proved that Olympic Melo was the more team friendly version of Melo he chose play making of a shot taking and even played defense however Olympic Melo was never a realistic option in New York as this version of Melo only worked when playing alongside other guys.

The stature not this guy as for a hoodie Melo he was rooted within the real Carmelo Anthony a fearless workhorse who was closer to an NBA Jam he checked than a real NBA player since then mellows bright lights have dimmed down New York traded him to a good Thunder team with championship aspirations and he was objectively awful an abomination of the basketball senses the franchise hastily gave up on mellow being the third wheel to Paul George or Russell Westbrook showing him the door after only one season let's not forget about the horror movie like ron melo had in houston which can be summed up rather quickly ready not really are you ready okay Melo joined the Rockets after the franchise let several key 3 and D players go he hadn't shown an inkling of defensive awareness or effort for that matter since the 2016 Olympics nor was he a competent 3-point shooter the Rockets literally paid him to stay away from the team and ultimately traded him to Chicago.

Melo played only 10 games as a rocket no NBA team not even as besties LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have bothered to give him a call it's as if he's riddled with a contagious disease it's been a brutal downfall then again it shouldn't be shocking that an aging player is declining in skill Father Time is undefeated and all that fancy jazz still it feels important to note Bello wasn't a top-10 player here's to hoping regular citizen Melo fares better than the versions we've seen turnabout the NBA for well over a decade because unfortunately it appears as though Melos days of operating as an NBA superstar up and over for a long time now but legacy is not about stats or even longevity it's all about how we perceive a player Melo’s exit was far less graceful than say Kobe's or Dwyane Wade's so we asked you what do you think of when we say Carmelo Anthony's name.