USA Basketball has had a torrid time fielding talent available to take part in August's training camp sessions in Las Vegas and consequently form the 12-man squad that Team USA will bring into the FIBA 2019 World Cup. Stars like James Harden, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, and Bradley Beal have declined their invitations to the preliminary roster, with many more excusing themselves from what was once viewed as a national honor to compete among the best in the world.
While many other players have been called up to potentially replace those first invited, somehow, in a galaxy far, far away from the NBA, sits the hero Team USA has been waiting for — Carmelo Anthony.
Though he's yet to play an NBA game since a dismal 1-for-11 shooting night on Nov. 8, 2018 — an outing that would prove to be his last with the Houston Rockets after a short 10-game stint — Melo has been the perennial scoring presence for the red, white, and blue since 2006, when he first became a viable star to lead the team. Anthony has been what Steve Rogers has been to the Marvel Universe for ages, and what Sam Wilson aka The Falcon was trusted to be [spoiler alert] in the critically-acclaimed The Avengers Endgame — the new Captain America.
The United States' second glory era at the international level has seen Team USA go a whopping 50-1 in world-level competitions (World Cup and the Olympics), the only loss coming in the 2006 semifinals, where Melo's team lost to Greece in the semifinals. Ever since, the U.S. has posted a 43-game win streak and proven to be the unstoppable force it once claimed to be after unleashing NBA talent at the international stage, which started with the 1992 Dream Team that took Barcelona and the Olympics by storm.
Out of the recent faces that last competed in the Rio 2016 Olympics, only Harrison Barnes and Kyle Lowry remain as viable options to return to Team USA — and Lowry is at the moment merely hopeful to return after tending to a thumb injury he suffered last season.
Kevin Durant isn't walking through that door after suffering a season-ending Achilles injury, neither is his new partner in crime Kyrie Irving, nor is super-sub Paul George or sniper Klay Thompson, also due to injury recovery.
Yet there is one veteran member with the time to make that six-week commitment and lend his scoring talents to the cause, talents that can propel perhaps another lifeline in the NBA if he proves to play well.
As ESPN's Dave McMenamin pledged on the set of The Jump:
“You belong in red, white, and blue — and [Syracuse] orange. But red, white, and blue in particular at this stage of your career. Carmelo, let everyone be reminded of the great scorer you are, you jab series game, your ability to do one thing at the international level — wear gold medals around your neck.
I think this is the time. Gregg Popovich, you need Melo — he needs the game. USA needs Melo. Please Carmelo, wear the flag again.”
I don’t ask for much. Can we get Melo back on USA Basketball this summer? pic.twitter.com/vlNknVD58p
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 25, 2019
Carmelo Anthony is the first four-time Olympian in USA Basketball's history, ranking first in points (336), rebounds (125), games played (31), and most importantly, gold medals (three). The 35-year-old could add to his record-setting marks, but also help this new wave of players understand the commitment and intent that comes with playing for Team USA.
Melo pledged Rio would be the last time he would wear the flag's colors in international competition, saying so shortly after a gold medal win over Serbia: “I know this is the end, this is it for me.”
As many as 12 players have already said no to Team USA within the past week, and there is very little talent that can argue with Melo as a potential starter or as a spark-plug sixth man to give the United States the scoring punch the likes of Dwyane Wade and Paul George gave them in the past.
Save for his two junior-level participations with USA Basketball, there has never been a more decorated scorer in the history of the program and his 1,091 points through 13 years at the senior level with Team USA soundly prove it.
Head coach Gregg Popovich will have a very young team on his hands and will need the experience and cemented body of work that Anthony can bring to a roster that will need to compete and claw its way to take its rightful place as the best in the world.
The USA no longer has the edge in undeniable star power, but a simple call-up can give this roster the hero it needs. It's time to lace up the sneakers, put on that signature headband, and strap up that star shield that has made Carmelo Anthony Team USA's beloved Captain America.
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