Chris Paul is probably disappointed Carmelo Anthony didn’t end up on the Houston Rockets, but he seems more annoyed that his friend isn’t viewed more favorably outside immediate NBA circles.
Paul was asked about Anthony ahead of the Rockets’ matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, because, obviously. And, naturally, he jumped to Melo’s defense, per ESPN.com’s Tim MacMahon:
Chris Paul on Carmelo Anthony: "Everybody always tries to put him in a box. Just let him… https://t.co/vfTPNY9ezS pic.twitter.com/9JuKFU7fcg
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) October 3, 2017
Fair enough. And Paul isn’t exactly wrong.
Anthony is still billed as a no-defense ball-stopper. He’s sometimes even counted among the league’s most toxic locker-room presences. Not all of this criticism is warranted. Some of it most definitely is, but Anthony left a nice impression on the New York Knicks’ kiddies, including Kristaps Porzingis, and has shown in the past that he can be a willing passer.
Consistent selflessness has always been the issue with him. He does go through stretches in which he uses too many isolations. He is guilty of under-passing. But, in recent years, the Knicks didn’t give him enough of an incentive to continue evolving. They tore down a 53-win team after the 2012-13 campaign and rewarded Anthony’s stellar 2013-14 crusade by missing the playoffs then and in the all the seasons that followed.
Granted, Anthony is not blameless. Maybe, for instance, the Knicks move him to power forward full-time if he’s a bigger advocate for the obviously sensible shift. His time with the Thunder, alongside Paul George and Russell Westbrook, will say a great deal about his willingness to not only play power forward, but also keep the ball moving and fire off the catch instead of pounding the ball by his lonesome.
Still, the general consensus on Melo, remains a tad harsh. He wasn’t the solution in New York, but he wasn’t the problem, either. There is a difference, and whether or not you still consider him to be a top-50 player, you’re obligated to see it.
