This story first appeared in SLAM 226.
Carmelo Anthony knows about questions. When he entered the NBA as part of the greatest draft class in recent years, his name was already synonymous with LeBron James. Cue the questions. Who’d be better? Who would be ROY? Others questioned whether he should’ve been picked second instead of third. Could he have won a championship with the Pistons his rookie season? Questions. By the time he hit his fourth SLAM cover in November 2009, Melo had carried the previously laughable Denver Nuggets to a winning record. The team now dripped with an appeal based on performance, as well as their baby blue jerseys.
Melo was a walking bucket, but could he become the two-way player that he needed to be? Could he take the Nuggets deeper into the playoffs? Even when he was joined by The Answer in 2008, there were still questions. When SLAM asked Carmelo to rock the cover of Issue 132, he (according to former SLAM Editor at Large, Lang Whitaker) asked to do so in a director’s chair to show that he was in charge of his life and career. He went on to have elite Olympic performances, which earned him three gold medals. He would join the chaotic Knicks and bring them something they hadn’t experienced this millennium: hope. But could he win a championship? Would he take a lesser role on a better team or would he always want to be “the guy?” More questions. The NBA is a better place with Melo in it, so I ask the question that rings out on Issue 132: Why are you still hating on Carmelo Anthony?
