The Oklahoma City Thunder made waves in the offseason when they acquired Carmelo Anthony. It's been a while since Anthony has been part of a team that has a realistic chance of going deep into the playoffs, previously spending his time with the perennially beleaguered New York Knicks. Although Anthony now has a reduced role playing for the Thunder, he has made it abundantly clear that he is enjoying his stint in Oklahoma City thus far.

Part of the reason why the Thunder is successful is Anthony's acceptance of being a second or third option behind Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

Anthony shared his thoughts with Royce Young of ESPN. Anthony said:

“Once you accept something, regardless of what it is, I think you become comfortable with it. You start putting your all into it, you start working on that role and on that acceptance, and it becomes fun. I think right now, after accepting that role, I think early in December, the game is starting to become fun again for me, fun for us as a team. Any time you get to making shots and winning basketball games, it makes it that much more fun.”

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Anthony has become more of a spot-up shooter with the Thunder, which is almost exactly the opposite of his style of isolation basketball.

Anthony's acceptance of his role has made the ball move more on the court, creating opportunities not just for Anthony, but also for Westbrook, George, Steven Adams and the rest of the Thunder. That said, the Thunder are last in the league in passes made per game.

The better ball movement propelled the Thunder to a 25-20 record, enough to let them sit comfortably as the 5th seed in the West.

Anthony may not be having the best statistical season of his career, as he is averaging 17.6 points and 5.9 rebounds this season, but when you look at how he impacts his teams, it's easy to tell that this season is one of the best Anthony has had in a while.