Carmelo Anthony is one of the best players Jim Boeheim has ever coached, and the man in charge of the Syracuse basketball program has always been more than willing to share his thoughts on Anthony’s NBA career — even if they can sound quite harsh.
Boeheim said earlier this week that Anthony winning his third gold medal at the Olympics proves he is worthy of a place in basketball history. One of the reasons the Olympic success is so important, according to Boeheim, is that Carmelo is unlikely ever win an NBA championship.
“He’s unlikely to win an NBA title,” Boeheim said, via Mike Waters of Syracuse.com. “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.”
Anthony recently turned 32. He probably only has a few good seasons left, and very few people believe the Knicks are in position to contend with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East, let alone the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs in the West.
Boeheim’s opinion isn’t exactly surprising, especially if you read some of the things he has said about the Knicks in the past. The 71-year-old seems to believe Anthony is loyal to a fault.
