1. Carmelo Anthony
Now we get to the good stuff, the crowned athlete prince who can do no wrong in the eyes of so many. We’re talking about none other than New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony.
Seriously, head to Twitter and search for some of the Melo fan accounts in the search bar. You will find cult-like accounts of the guy. There are Melo fans out there who make it their personal mission to take on anybody and everybody who says one solitary negative thing about the Syracuse product.
Sorry fans, it doesn’t work that way.
A perfect example came in Sunday night’s win against the Sacramento Kings. Early in the contest, Melo found himself bloodied at the hands of a Kings big man. The entire Melo-defending universe went wild.
“Hammered, garbage, Melo is the only star who doesn’t receive calls in the NBA” — they all said.
MELO GETS MUGGED NO CALL
— Knicks Dude (@knicksdude) December 5, 2016
Lmaoooooo @NBA melo gets fouled 85% of the time just like that last play please be fair this is nonsense #nba #Knicks
— Knicks loyalty (@forevershinin) December 3, 2016
When you realize you can get elbowed in the face and nobody calls shit pic.twitter.com/JEeXfZ5ver
— Knicks Dude (@knicksdude) December 5, 2016
The truth? Well, the truth is Melo flew forward into the Kings big man who went straight up. Melo initiated all of the contact on this particular play. He then stayed on the group with a lip boo-boo while his team payed on the penalty kill for over 30 seconds.
Yeah, he was bloody, but Melo initiated the contact that caused the bloody lip. The better argument revolves around why Melo doesn’t seem to get the better whistle, similar to other NBA stars. Answers in this area revolve around the art of flopping — something Melo’s physicality doesn’t play kind to.
Even one guy brought the name of Tony Brothers up, the official who booted Melo earlier in the season after he wouldn’t stop barking:
AND NO FOUL CALLED. REFS SUCK, LALA. Not just Tony Brothers either https://t.co/dqJdTXEoDO
— Knicks Dude (@knicksdude) December 5, 2016
And, of course, general Melo complaints about the technical from that night:
Let Lebron, Curry, KD, Harden scream at a ref & they werent even fouled foreal.. nothing happens but Melo 1 legit complaint he gets a T
— Mitry_DaGawdd (@mitrykizer) December 5, 2016
Melo got fouled about 14x there. NOT ONE DAMN WHISTLE
— Mr. Swift (@ELGINDOTCOM) December 3, 2016
Here’s the video, the truth about what happened that night:
No question Tony Brothers is in a rotten mood, but Carmelo Anthony must be SMARTER than this. Just terrible. #Knicks pic.twitter.com/9MgN5JbCeV
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) November 12, 2016
Once Brothers called the first T, Melo has to be smarter. He needs to realize this particular official woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Stop barking at him and understand your team needs you.
Anything less than understand that view point and holding your guy, Melo, accountable, is only hurting your own credibility in this world.
Many writers and fans have harsh things to say about Melo at times because, well, these things are warranted.
He is a black hole. The offensive flow does stop with him. He hasn’t experienced much winning success in the NBA. He doesn’t have an NBA Championship nor has he even gotten close.
He’s also very poor on the defensive end of the floor.
All of these criticisms don’t mean the Knickerbockers are better off without him. In fact, some are too harsh on the guy because they look at a guy like LeBron James and expect the same greatness.
He’s not LeBron. He’s not even in the same stratosphere. Nobody is, and that’s OK.
At the same time, don’t make excuses for the guy when he deserves to be pounded a little. He’s a big boy. He can handle it.
