Carmelo Anthony has been one of the very best pure scorers in the NBA over the course of his career, racking up the points, the All-Star selections, and the playoff appearances.
Well, the playoffs used to be a regular place to see Melo during his time with the Denver Nuggets, but it has become much more sparse with the Knicks.
Now that Anthony is 31 years old, his urgency to win has heightened significantly. He has already earned a pair of Gold Medals with Team USA, and he plans to play again this year so that he can “feel what success feels like” again.
However, he is it yet to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy as a NBA champion. His best friends, other than Chris Paul, all have multiple titles (five for Kobe Bryant, three for Dwyane Wade, and two for LeBron James).
Melo admits that he's concerned about wasting the prime years of his career.
“I think that's the main question,” Anthony said, via ESPN's Ian Begley. “How can we take advantage of this window? How can we take advantage of this situation that we have in front of us?”
The Knicks improved from their horrendous 15-win campaign in 2014-15, and while they certainly need to take more strides to get back to the postseason, Anthony believes they need a playoffs or bust mentality going into next season.
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“For me, I kind of see it differently,” he said. “Yes, we've made progress. We still haven't made progress enough to get to the postseason, to get to the playoffs. For my first 10 years in this league I played in the postseason, I played playoff basketball. So to not experience that over the past three seasons it makes you question a lot.”
Anthony then revealed the one motivational tool that trumps everything else for him.
“My only thing, my only motive, is to win.”
Carmelo has reportedly lobbied for the Knicks to bring in Tom Thibodeau to coach the team in 2016-17, given his strong pedigree with the Chicago Bulls. So far, Phil Jackson appears to be looking else where.
Over the last few months, there have been persistent rumors stating that Anthony could be shipped out of the Big Apple. For now though, he's focused on making it work with his hometown team.
“As of right now, I'll be here,” he said. “No conversation has taken place as far as me leaving or me wanting to leave. I think everybody knows how I feel about being here with this organization in New York, playing for the Knicks. I think nobody should question that.”
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