It is not surprising that New York Knick knockabout Carmelo Anthony had expanded his list of NBA teams for which he was willing to play.
He is old and has never really done much of anything for the two teams for which he has played, the Denver Nuggets and the Knicks.
All of us become a little less particular when it seems that nobody is interested.
Anthony was demanding a trade to a contender, as his efforts at being the cornerstone of a championship team has yielded nothing but pipe dreams.
Anthony had a no-trade clause in his contract, which basically meant that the Knicks, who have done nothing and gone nowhere since mortgaging their future to obtain Anthony from Denver in 2011, had to get Anthony’s approval of any trade in which he was involved.
Well, as P.T. Barnum of Barnum and Bailey Circus fame used to say, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” and Anthony has found that sucker in the Oklahoma City Thunder, who view him as the replacement for Thunder bolter Kevin Durant.
After playing 16 seasons in the NBA, Anthony has yet to go beyond the second round of the playoffs, although one credit he must be granted is that with the exception of his rookie season, when he was apprehended at the airport with marijuana in his backpack, he has been a model NBA citizen. Taking advantage of his superstar status, the result of being the number one NBA draft pick coming out of university at Syracuse, all he had to say was that he had lent his carry-on to a friend and it was case closed.
Anthony has also been consistent in taking the court. With the exception of his first in New York and 2014 – 2015, Anthony has played no fewer than 50 games in a season.
He has preserved his health by resting on defense, say some, which has enabled him to post a career average of 36.2 minutes per game. He was often seen, anytime the ball was not in his hands, standing with his hands on his hips to catch his breath.
