Recently, New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony made the statement he can play at a high level for the next four or five years. No chance.
By Robby Sabo
Now that the entire basketball universe had a chance to witness the oozing raw talent Kristaps Porzingis displayed during the NBA Summer League, the only question fans had was not if, but when the young Latvian would take the “face of the New York Knicks” mantle from one Carmelo Anthony.
How could anybody think otherwise?
Melo is entering his 13th season in The Association to go along with a banged up body. A season ago he could only muster 40 total games due to a bum knee.
He’s now 31-years old. No matter though. Melo still believes he has four or five more top-flight seasons left in him.
This was his response when asked if he still had elite years left in him, via Ian Begley of ESPN New York.
“Without a doubt. Without a doubt,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ final training camp practice on Saturday.
“I wasn’t a guy who would run straight to surgery for anything. But I think now, [taking] care of this really put me in position to perform at a high level for the next four or five years,” he said.
“If I was a guy who kind of played above the rim and played at a fast pace and just running and jumping — that was my game, very athletic — then I’d probably be sitting here singing a different tune,” Anthony said. “But the way that I play, the way that I know how to pace myself, the way I know how to pick my spots out on the basketball court, I’m not a guy who’s playing above the rim every play so it works in my favor.”
“I thought this week was a good test for me, getting through the two-a-days and seeing how my body was going to react to that,” Anthony said. “Playing and scrimmaging before training camp, four or five days a week, spending two, two and a half hours on the court scrimmaging and nothing else, there were a lot of tests I had to get through mentally.”
Now that we get back down to Earth, we proclaim four or five more seasons has no chance to happen.
It’s father-time, and nothing else.
When Porzingis was called at the Barclays Center as the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA Draft, Knicks fans everywhere scratched their heads. They did so believing “Zinger” would need years to develop.
As we get closer to the regular season we know now he won’t. Of course there will be a transition period, but the kid can play in the league immediately.
This alone will shift the focus off Anthony and onto Porzingis for the seasons to come.
If Melo wasn’t breaking down so much, four or five more elite level seasons could be plausible. He just cannot stay healthy enough to get it done.
[su_button url=”https://elitesportsny.com/2015/10/04/new-york-giants-overwhelm-the-buffalo-bills-24-10/” target=”blank” background=”#000080″ size=”10″ wide=”yes” radius=”0″]NEXT: Giants Overwhelm The Bills[/su_button]
