If there is one thing that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic has taught our world is that things can change in an instant. That is certainly the case for the latest guest on NBATV’s “#NBATogether,” where a future Hall of Famer, perennial All-Star and one of the most gifted scorer’s to ever grace the NBA hardwood had to wait for over a year just for an opportunity to get back on the court due to the perception that he was not a team player.
Via video chat, NBA on TNT studio host and co-host of TNT’s “Inside the NBA” Ernie Johnson interview with 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA selection and three-time Olympic Gold medalist Carmelo Anthony now of the Portland Trail Blazers began with his thoughts on the restart of the 2019-20 NBA campaign, that was put on pause on Mar. 11 because of the COVID-19 Pandemic on July 31 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando FL, which was voted on, and approved first by the NBA’s Board of Governors and then by the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) last week.
“As far as from a physical standpoint, yes I’m ready,” Anthony said to Johnson in terms of physically being ready to get back on the court.
“I’m in the gym. We’re in the gym because we understand the minute that, you know, the horn go off we have to be ready as a team, Portland specifically. So, that makes it exciting for me and our team because this is all knew to everybody, right? This will be new to everybody. New environment, new situations, new circumstances, new opportunities. Guys coming back healthy…. So that’s a big point for us.”
Anthony did say in addition about being in a so-called bubble in Orlando where the players will be constantly monitored and checked for any symptoms of the Coronavirus is something that he is still “up in the air” about a little bit because the details about the pandemic are not concreate, which makes it hard to commit to the idea of having all the 22 teams, 13 squads from the Western Conference and nine teams from the Eastern Conference in one space.
What will specifically be different, barring any setbacks, if the NBA does resume play on July 31 is the format of how the regular season will finish.
All the 22 teams will play eight games to close the regular season to solidify their respective playoff positions, or to just get into the playoffs, which is the case for the Trail Blazers (29-37).
Right now, the boys from “Rip City” are 3.5 games behind the current holders of the No. 8 and final playoff spot in the Memphis Grizzlies (32-33).
On top of that, the Trail Blazers have to contend with the New Orleans Pelicans (28-36) and Sacramento Kings (28-36), who also are 3.5 games behind the Grizzlies for that No. 8 and playoff spot in the West. The five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs (27-36), who have a streak of 22 consecutive playoff appearances hanging in the balance and the Phoenix Suns (26-39) are also still in the mix, though their chances are very slim being four and six games respectably behind the No. 8 Seeded Grizzlies.
What the Trail Blazers do have going for them is the fact that they will be getting two key players back possibly in their chase for that No. 8 and final playoff spot in power forward/center Zach Collins, who has been out since all but three games this season because of shoulder surgery and last season’s starting center Jusuf Nurkic, whose been on the shelf all season because of a broken leg sustained back in late March 2019.
If the Trail Blazers after these eight games played finish four games or more behind the Grizzlies, their season would be finished. If they finish four games or fewer behind the Grizzlies for that final playoff spot, then under the agreed restart format by the NBA and the NBPA they would play a best-of-two play-in tournament, which would mean a single-elimination for the No. 9 Seeded Trail Blazers if they finish in that position and double-elimination for the No. 8 Seed Grizzlies, if they finish in that position to determine who gets that last playoff spot.
Anthony, whose averaged 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds on 37.1 percent from three-point range in 50 games in “Rip City” is a big reason why the Trail Blazers are even in contention for a playoff spot. Before he was signed in the middle of November 2019, the team was 5-9 and on a serious downward spiral. They have gone 24-28 since his arrival in “Rip City.”
“We understand the situation and the uphill battle that we’re win,” Anthony said. “I think that’s why we have the commitment that we have from our team right now, and the focus that we have.”
“I know a lot of people who, you know, that can’t see it or don’t see it. But we believe and we understand what we have to do. We understand the fight that’s ahead of us.”
The fact that there is a conversation and a vote that took place of basketball is coming back is something to be excited about, especially what has taken place in our nation the last three weeks with the volume of peaceful and at times unpeaceful protest in the wake of the death of 47-year-old Minneapolis and Houston, TX native George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin putting his knee on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
Anthony said the explosion of these protest, that do not seem to be concluding anytime soon is out of the “discomfort, anger, pent up frustration and an accumulation” of a little over 401 years of minorities being harassed, disrespected, and killed at the hands of a system and people within that system that are supposed to protect and serve us and the towns, cities and states that we all reside in.
In a conversation in which Anthony said he had with an older gentleman at the close of this past week, he asked what the difference is between systemic racism by law enforcement today compared to the 1960s?
The gentleman’s answer was it is being captured on people’s camera phones, which is how we saw the death of Mr. Floyd as well as the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery by racist Caucasians in Georgia and Eric Garner by police officers in Staten Island, NY that has been played over and over on the internet and newscast across the country.
“The fact that we’re able to watch this over and over, and see this publicly, and see this play out in front of the rest of the world, I think people are just tired,” Anthony said of the unrest displayed by minorities. “I think my community is just tired, they want to have their voice heard and they want to take a stand. And that’s what we’re doing right now.”
“You can see not just our own community, but communities all over the world, countries all over the world are coming together showing solidarity.”
The NBA community during this time has especially taken a stand and marched with the protestors like Anthony’s teammate in five-time All-Star lead guard Damian Lillard being side-by-side with those that marched in Portland, OR. Fellow All-Star guard of the Houston Rockets Russell Westbrook participating in the peaceful protest in the aforementioned home state of Mr. Floyd and swingman Jaylen Brown driving down to his hometown of Atlanta, GA to march in solidarity with protestors, who on Friday night had another African American die at the hands of two police officers when 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was shot in a Wendy’s parking lot.
As great as the marches and protest have been though, Anthony said that it all has to lead to execution where the laws and the educational system that has allowed this systemic racism to be in place for as mentioned over four centuries to be dealt with from the ground up by holding those in power accountable at the ballot box.
Anthony has seen this firsthand having grown up in Baltimore, MD where he saw things as a youth that a youngster should never see on the streets, which he referred to as “the pharmacy.”
He said each day when he walked outside of the place he lived back then, Anthony saw drugs, prostitution, African Americans fighting and killing their own, in their own neighborhood.
It was something said that Anthony had to almost “embrace” just to do something so basic like walk to school at around age 10. Making sure his friends were safe. That his family was okay.
“That’s a lot of pressure. A lot of stress,” Anthony said of that time in his life. “I always say growing up in those type of environments, it teaches you how to survive, but it doesn’t teach you how to live. And that’s something that will stick to me for the rest of my life.”
To put into perspective the kind of life Anthony had as a youth growing up, he once said that he knew those involved in law enforcement in Baltimore by name.
That relationship Anthony said he had with the police where he called them by their first name. The police then were even called by their given nicknames.
Anthony also said that he and the people he grew up with “secured” the neighborhood. So, even if the police came by, they were able to differentiate between police that respected them from those that wanted to make examples out of them if they ever got out of line in their eyes.
“We knew who to mess with and who not to mess with,” he said. “And the ones we couldn’t mess with, we just left them alone…. We had this kind of repour with these guys. And when it was time to get serious, it was time to get serious. It was a mutual respect.”
“And I think now-a-days, that respect is lost, it’s blurred, it’s crossed. And now we’ve become almost I want to say enemies because you guys are to protect and serve us and take care of the community.”
This has led Anthony to ask people why a certain type of law enforcement officers are put in certain communities, where they do not know the area and do not try to build a relationship with the people who know that community.
Those bad apples of law enforcement being put into these communities of color is what has led to black and brown people in those area to be terrified, upset and disgruntled with police, when then leads to police brutality in those communities.
While we have seen the NBA and fans of it rise up to express their anger and frustration with how those in law enforcement have strong armed many communities of color, on July 13, 2016 at The ESPYS is where Anthony and fellow perennial All-Stars in Chris Paul, now of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the now retired Dwyane Wade and four-time Kia MVP now of the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James stood on stage and gave a powerful and heart stopping thoughts on the fractured relationship between the police and minorities in the United States, which at that time claimed the life of fellow Baltimore native Freddie Gray, who life ended at the hands of the Baltimore police at age 25 when he sustained a “severe and critical neck injury” while he was being transported by law enforcement on Apr 12, 2015. He died seven days later.
“We cannot ignore the realities of the current state of America. The events of the past week have put a spotlight on the injustice, distrust, and anger that have plagued so many of us,” Anthony said on that night, adding, “The system is broken. The problems are not new. The violence is not new, and the racial divide definitely is not new.”
Anthony also said in that impassioned speech that the urgency to create change between law enforcement and black and brown communities is “at an all-time high.” That was the moment to get the attention of the sports world of what has going on that for so long had been swept under the rug.
Today Anthony said to Johnson that sense of urgency to make that change happen is “record breaking” now.
Anthony said that he, Paul, Wade, and James had gone back-and-forth during a phone call and text messages in the lead up to that moment, where they were in the back of the Staples Center stage in L.A. still strategizing on what to do.
“If that was to ever kind of be made into like a documentary or something, that’s a powerful moment because you see four black men in a moment of vulnerability of our country. Of our nation,” Anthony said. “You see us get together, and we have four different messages but we have one voice at the end of the day.”
“There was so much going on behind the scenes, so by the time we got on that stage and said what we had to say, we was at piece. We was at ease with that.”
One thing that Anthony said to Johnson that was also the same on that night is that he, Paul, Wade, and James had their dress suits done by African American designers.
When Johnson asked Anthony if there is any value in doing a sequel of that message that he and the other three future Hall of Famers did four years ago now?
Anthony answered that he Paul, Wade, and James have been in discussions, but nothing has been set in stone, but if they were to do something they have to rise to the moment in a way that leads to a “solid plan” of action.
In the midst of all that is going on in our nation from the Coronavirus to the protest against systemic racism, Anthony said to Johnson what gives him hope is that each day he get to wake up to his partner for 16 years, 10 of those as a married couple to actress and entrepreneur Alani “La La” and their 13-year-old son Kiyan.
It also said that it makes him sad because there is not a lot going on in the world that makes him hopeful and it is just plan “sad” what our world has become.
Anthony also said that he is “thankful” for being in the situation that he is in as the starting forward for the Trail Blazers, where at around this same time last season, he was basically dismissed by the Houston Rockets after just 10 games and not even getting a phone call to come in for a workout by any of the other 29 teams.
He got a chance in the middle of Nov. 2019 by the Trail Blazers to still play the game that has allowed him the opportunity to provide a game-changing life for his family, that he can be around during this troubling times in our world. To have a voice that can uplift those that have watched him on television first with the Denver Nuggets, who he played with for eight seasons after being drafted by them No. 3 overall out of Syracuse University in 2003. Then for the New York Knicks for 6.5 seasons, who acquired him on Feb. 22, 2011 and then one season with the Thunder, who acquired him from the Knicks on Sept. 25, 2017.
While Anthony had individual success from being named as mentioned an All-Star 10 times, being named to the All-NBA Third team four times and being named USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2006 and 2016, there have been some rough moments that have led to those in the media calling him selfish.
Anthony has said though he has “any” regrets during his 16-year NBA career, calling his time with the Nuggets “incredible,” because of how they took him in and opened their arms, and welcomed him in as a citizen and of their city and community where he could create something special.
While he called his time in the “Big Apple” with the Knicks rocky because they never got further than the Semifinals in his time there, the experience changed him from a “young, man, boy rough around the edges” into a tough-minded, stand-up individual, who developed the ability to maneuver through a lot of the murkiness of the press and see the situation for what it was. A team that felt they were not going to be great with him as their headliner.
“I had to put a shield around me because there was so many things that was happening within New York, and then you had basketball at the end of the day. And then you have sports at the end of the day,” Anthony said. “So, everything was coming at different angles, different times, different speeds. So, New York made me slow down, really think, really put things into perspective. And really accept things for what it is.”
The only regret that Anthony had about his time in the “Big Apple” is that it seemed like he had different teammates in the over half-a-dozen years he played with the Knicks as well as the five head coaches he had in those seasons in current Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni, current Clippers assistant coach Mike Woodson, current NBATV analyst and head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis, and Jeff Hornacek.
The situation that occurred with the Rockets last season, whereas mentioned he played in just 10 games, Anthony said that he has put that in his rearview mirror and has no “grudges” or any “anger” about it because he said that he has already reflected back on that moment be feel “angry” about that moment and has moved past it.
Before all the success that Anthony had on the NBA hardwood, his rise to prominence on the national scene began when he led the Orangemen to the National title in 2003 behind his effort of 20 points and 10 rebounds in the team’s 81-78 victory over the University of Kansas Jayhawks.
He did say to Johnson that if the Orangemen failed to capture that title that he was going to return for his sophomore season.
Anthony also said that it was in his mind that if he can win a title at the collegiate level that it would be only a matter of time before he won one in the NBA once he got there.
He never looked at it that way at that time because he just stayed in the moment and enjoyed it for all that it was worth, while being “entrenched” in what was happening on campus and enjoying life as a college student from engaging with his peers in the campus’ quadrangle.
Something that Anthony is also thankful for is the close friendship that he has with James, which began back in their high school days when the two played respectably for St. Vincent-St. Mary and Oak Hill Academy.
Anthony said that he heard of James, and when the two met at a hotel in Trenton, NJ in the early 2000s.
That official first meeting where they talked the night before the two played against each other in the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival, where they conversated about how they were going to if they just kept working on their games they would be the faces that would lead the NBA for decades once they got there, which they have.
The conversation also allowed both James and Anthony to find that so-called “brother” who understands the pressures and challenges that come with being tagged “the next great thing” by the outside and that each of them now had someone they could talk to about their feelings being in that space without any judgment, and be able accept and take on the challenge of reaching that mountain top.
To illustrate the kind of brotherhood Anthony, Paul, James, and Wade have, Anthony told the story of how a few summers back when the so-called “banana boat” began where when the four were on vacation with their significant others and Anthony, who says he is a very adventurous person jumped into the water and swam around a grotto.
As everyone starts heading back to the boat, Anthony’s head is in the water and as he is coming up to catch his breath as everyone else is either on the boat or getting off of it, he is swimming in that direction while still under water, realizing that the current is pushing him further away from the boat.
James, Wade and Paul were at first laughing thinking it was just all fun and games. But suddenly James jumps into the water and got to Anthony and grabbed him with one arm and using his other arm to swim them back to the boat.
It was this moment that Anthony realized how strong James is, even after playing against him all these years.
“At the end of the day we laughed about it,” Anthony said about that moment. “It was like, ‘You’re the only person who can do that. Who can do something like that?’ And it took him to come to the rescue. So, we laugh and joke about that moment.”
of NCAA Basketball Mountain, Anthony one day when he walked into head coach Jim Boeheim’s office and basically told him to make the decision to enter his name in the NBA draft and make his living on the hardwood.
Three months ago, our world changed because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the plethora of protest that have taken place across the globe in the wake of the death of another African American being killed at the hands of law enforcement.
This has made a majority of of us take a step back an re-evaluate our lives and what we all need to do to make our nation better, and how thankful those of us who are in a place where we have some sense of security in our lives.
That has certainly been the case for Carmelo Anthony, whose basketball career and life in general has had some highs and lows and has tested his intestinal fortitude like so many minorities in this country.
While what has happened in our world, and in his career on the professional hardwood has made him upset at times, it has also made him very thankful and appreciative of how it has allowed him to provide a better life for his family, especially his son Kiyan. How he has found a team in the Portland Trail Blazers that gave him that chance to finish his basketball career on his own terms but has given him a chance to compete to get into the playoffs once this NBA season resumes at the end of July and see where it goes.
No matter what happens going forward, we will see Carmelo Anthony enshrined in Springfield, MA once his hangs up his sneakers. He will have in the audience or possibly go in with three of the best to ever do it in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul, who he has built a lasting bond that is both reliable and powerful. Anthony above all is a shining example of what is possible when you never allow your rough circumstances to dictate how your will end up in life.
He could have let the rough streets of Baltimore, MD to break him. Instead, it made him stronger, tougher, and committed to continue his maturation as a person and to be a beacon of hope to others from his area and other tough places in the U.S. that you can be something more.
Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 6/13/2020 8 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “#NBATogether With Ernie Johnson: Carmelo Anthony;” https://www.espn.com/nba/standings; 6/14/2020 www.cnn.com story, “Atlanta Officer Who Fatally Shot Rayshad Brooks Has Been Terminated,” by Amir Vera; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/1975/carmelo-anthony; https://www.espn.comnba/team/stats/_/name/por; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Freddie_Gray; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damian_Lillard; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmelo_Anthony.
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