Drama Surrounding Carmelo Anthony Continues

(Originally published 1/26/11 in "The Montclarion")

When will all this Carmelo Anthony drama (or Melo’drama for short) end? Anthony has made it more than obvious that he wishes to play in his hometown, New York City. The Knicks have made it more than obvious that they want Carmelo on their team. So why hasn’t the deal been made already?

Carmelo Anthony has been waiting for a trade to the New York Knicks or New Jersey Nets, but high trade demands from the Nuggets have delayed the process.

The only thing preventing this trade from being accomplished is the Denver Nuggets’ asking price. They’re looking to take the entire Knicks roster, other than Amare Stoudemire and possibly even a draft pick, a pick that the Knicks don’t have. The Knicks are doing the smart thing for themselves by waiting it out. Anthony is going to be a free agent at the end of the season and can sign wherever he chooses. New York would be offering him the money anyway, but by waiting they’re saving all the players they would be giving up in the trade.


Understandably, they’re taking the more reasonable, approach and waiting for the Nuggets’ asking price to go down, or until the end of the season. But sometimes waiting doesn’t always pay off. There have been a few times this year in which Anthony was “almost” sent to the Knicks, then “almost” went to the Nets, resulting in chaos and confusion surrounding the entire situation.

The New York Knicks, with the team they currently have, aren’t going to be near an NBA Championship. Stoudemire is a huge plus, and Raymond Felton has been a nice surprise, but they’re still one large chip away from being able to overtake the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and/or the Boston Celtics. Sure the Knicks may have a few lucky bounces and reach the finals, but the odds are against them.

If they don’t want to make 2010-2011 a lost season they need to add a star-caliber player, similar to the Stoudemire signing this past offseason. They’re almost laying down this year, anticipating Carmelo will end up with them, but once he becomes a free agent any team can sway him to go their way. He might go to the Chicago Bulls and instantly make them a top team alongside Derrick Rose, or even worse for the Knicks, he may end up in New Jersey.

Anthony wants the spotlight, and his hometown, but he knows the New Jersey Nets share the same media as the Knicks and they’re moving their home stadium into the city shortly. They may not have the world famous “Madison Square Garden,” but they do have Jay-Z; then again Jay-Z couldn’t lure Lebron to the financial capital of the world. The only thing helping the Knicks keep Anthony away from the Nets is the chance to compete for a title. Even with Carmelo, the Nets wouldn’t be too much of a playoff threat and are still a few pieces away from getting there. The Knicks, on the other hand, are there already, and if they can add a solid supporting player (remember the Chris Paul rumors) they can be as dangerous as the upper tier teams.

If the Knicks want to lay down and wait until next season they may come to the unfortunate realization that Carmelo has decided to go elsewhere. And if he decides to do just that, Knick fans may want to point the finger at the Denver Nuggets. Reasonably they want something in return for a player who doesn’t want to be there anymore, nor do they care where Anthony goes. The only way to confidently obtain him is to be aggressive and trade for him, and if the Knicks were really serious this season about making a push, they would leave all but Stoudemire expendable. This may only be a one-year mirage we’re seeing from Felton, and Danilo Gallinari hasn’t blossomed into the player the Knicks thought he could be. Besides, would you rather have Carmelo Anthony or Eddy Curry and Wilson Chandler?

Spoelstra Under Fire In Miami

(Originally published 12/1/10 in "The Montclarion")

The Miami Heat are showing everyone the perfect way to reflect negative attention; just blame your coach. A grand entrance, fireworks show, an hour-long primetime free agency signing and millions of dollars result in a pathetic record and an angry city.

Lebron James (left), Dwayne Wade (middle), and Chris Bosh (right) are finding that things aren’t so sunny in Miami with the Heat off to a 10-8 start under head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is facing heavy scrutiny from the players within the organization and is about to experience a mutiny if things don’t improve rapidly. Oh, how quickly things can change from an offseason fiesta to an opening season riot.


Certainly injuries have played a factor, and “the big three” are being hurt by the lack of production from the center and point guard positions, but these are just excuses. 328 million dollars should not result in a near-even record, and especially when that money belongs to the kind of talent that Miami has. How quickly the king has become the court jester.

A dynasty was already in place before anything meaningful occurred. The team came together from their 2008 gold medal Olympic squad and promised to show the prominence everyone thought they had. It wasn’t a question if the Heat would win a championship with this team, but how many championships this team would win.

Before they can come close to matching the Boston Celtic’s eight straight championships, or make a run similar to Jimmie Johnson’s current streak of five straight NASCAR championships, they’re going to need to win one. And before they can win a championship they’re going to need to improve right now.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Spoelstra out as the head coach by the time you’re reading this. LeBron James can get coaches kicked off the team, but he can’t win championships, something he gets paid to do. Spoelstra has unfortunately become the scapegoat in this situation. Because his players don’t know how to execute, he has to face the penalty. On any other team that would be the case, but James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh don’t need a lesson in execution, they’re beyond being coached. So how could this be the coaches fault?

Removing the head coach will only turn the attention away for a short amount of time. If their record doesn’t improve fans are going to start blaming the real culprits. Everyone expected greatness, even perfection. The Heat were supposed to make a run at the most wins in the regular season, now they’re just trying to maintain a decent playoff spot. It’s still early in the season, and letting the coach go could ignite the Heat and their stars to play better, but that shouldn’t be the case. After Spoelstra and James’ chest bump and “good talk,” everything from a public relations standpoint appears fine, but the truth is far from that.

The Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic still sit atop the Eastern Conference, something that neither team was worried about losing when they learned Bosh and James signed with the Heat. Boston defeated them opening night to spoil their opening act, then traveled to Miami and beat them again. The Heat are 1-6 against teams with better records than them at the moment, their lone win against the Orlando Magic.

The Heat need a spark to light their fire and letting Spoelstra go may be it. They can’t continue at this rate for much longer before the better teams start pulling away, but a mediocre record isn’t his fault. Let’s see some of these star athletes step up for their lackluster performance; isn’t a king supposed to be noble?