Carmelo Anthony didn’t impress many people with his remark about winning the Olympics vs. winning an NBA championship. Among these people is Stephen A. Smith.
In a recent episode of “First Take,” the ESPN analyst, who holds the Larry O’Brien trophy in high prestige, said Melo’s comment was “ridiculous.”
“I almost cried when I heard that Carmelo [Anthony] said that [he wouldn’t trade his gold medals for an NBA title]. That is maybe the most ridiculous comment I’ve ever heard come out of his mouth,” Smith said.
“That was just ridiculous for him to say and all it did was bring attention to the fact that a guy I would’ve loved to have won an NBA championship [never won one],” Stephen A. Smith added. “I couldn’t believe he said that.”
Carmelo Anthony says he won’t trade his Olympic gold medals for an NBA title
In his 19-year career, Carmelo Anthony became a 10-time NBA All-Star. He even made it to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. However, Melo never got to call himself an NBA champion. All players in the league aspire to achieve it, but only a few can win the title in a given season.
To Anthony’s credit, however, he found another path to basketball success. He won the Olympic bronze medal in Athens in 2004 and then became a three-time Olympic gold medalist after his successful campaigns with Team USA in Beijing, London, and Rio de Janeiro.
In a clip shared by BasketNews on X, Anthony was asked if he would trade all his Olympic gold medals for an NBA championship trophy. Melo responded with an emphatic “No.”
“When we talk about global sport, for me, a medal means something totally different than an NBA championship. They both have their own separate meanings, but winning a gold medal, it’s the passion, it’s the pride that you have,” Anthony said.
“Not just for a city or a state, for a whole nation, a whole country you’re winning for. So, it’s a different level of pride that you have to have when you’re wearing ‘USA’ across your chest,” he continued.
While he never had the chance to hold the NBA championship trophy, Carmelo Anthony’s accomplishments in the league and the Olympics positions him on another level compared to other stars in the league. He has a legitimate claim to being one of the top basketball players in the world.
For more NBA content:
Follow me on X at @ErnestLeo, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics. You can also reach out to Ernest Hernandez via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest NBA news, click here!
Ernest also handles a YouTube account called Sports On Air, which has over 102 thousand subscribers. The channel contains interviews predominantly from the Philippine Basketball Association. They can be reached through [email protected].
