Carmelo Anthony is one of the greatest pure scorers in NBA history. However, his lack of playoff success and the comparisons with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will always put an asterisk next to his résumé.
Anthony has often been scapegoated and blamed for his team's struggles. Nonetheless, he proved that he could be an efficient contributor in a lesser role off the bench, extending his career for a couple of years.
Now, however, Anthony is once again a free agent and in all honesty, it doesn't seem like another team is willing to give him a chance this deep into the season. Still, he wouldn't hesitate to come back if asked to.
NBA News: Carmelo Anthony Says He Still Loves The Game
"I love the game, I will say that, but I realize there's a lot of things that's not in my control," Anthony told ESPN. "So, I just sit back and let it play out and whatever it's going to be, it's going to be and I accept that. I'm at peace with that."
"I'm cool and I get to watch my son play, train him, be around him," Carmelo added. "I can be that father and the man that I need to be so, I'm cool. I would love to play, I love the game, I'm still in the gym every single day. But, the opportunity presents itself, (then) it presents itself but it's not something that I'm pressing about. I still love it, I still love the game."
It'a shame to see that one of the best players of the past two decades won't be able to walk away from the game on his own terms. It's a similar case to Dwight Howard, who's now playing in Taiwan after not getting a single NBA offer.
Obviously, one cannot expect either player to still play at an All-Star level, but it's hard to think that they couldn't bring more to the table than some of the guys on a team's roster right now, even as veteran leaders.
