When Opportunity Knocks, will Carmelo Answer?

Winning a championship in sports is an extremely difficult task in any level of competition. Winning a D1 college championship in basketball is extraordinarily difficult in the one-game playoff system that is March Madness. Winning an Olympic gold medal poses an even greater difficulty in the fact that you have to first be good enough to be selected to the team of the greatest in the world and still go out and defeat the best players from every other country. Winning an NBA championship may be the greatest difficulty because of the length of the season, postseason, the opponents and the wear and tear on the body. Only eight basketball players have ever accomplished the feat of winning all three and there is another that has an opportunity to do so.

LeBron James and Kevin Durant are arguably the two best players in the NBA today. While both have won an Olympic gold medal, neither will have a chance to win an NCAA title as LeBron never attended college and Durant played only one season, losing in the tournament. Their legacies will ultimately be defined solely by their careers in the NBA. Carmelo Anthony, on the other hand, has a chance to succeed anything those two men and almost every other NBA basketball player in history has ever done: win an NCAA title, an Olympic Gold medal and an NBA Championship.

While that in itself would be historic he already has two Olympic Gold medals and only one other man has ever won two gold medals as well as a college title and professional title. You may have heard of that man, his name is Michael Jordan. Carmelo has an opportunity to join Michael Jordan as the only people to ever win in all the biggest stages and twice for their country. But Carmelo doesn’t need to stop there. In two years, he will probably play in the Olympics again and go for a third gold medal which would put him in even more exclusive territory, his own.

Before we think about Anthony winning a third gold medal his current resume still lacks the NBA title and let’s face it, he’s not going to win in New York. Back in January Melo scored a career-high 63 points in a game, and no one batted an eyelash. LeBron scored 62 points last week, one fewer than Melo, and the story the next day was about how it was one of the all-time great performances. What does that tell you? No one cares about basketball in New York; no one cares about the Knicks. Carmelo needs a championship ring to be considered an all-time great player. His legacy will always be in doubt until he gets one, if he gets one.

At the end of this season he has a chance to leave New York and go elsewhere to win a title. But there is one thing that could truly hold that up, money. If Melo leaves New York he will be leaving a lot of money on the table. The question that he needs to ask himself is How much is it worth to win a ring? Carmelo has a ton of money and it’s still not like he will be playing for free no matter where he goes. As the incumbent team, the Knicks can offer him an extra year and $33million more than any other team. Leaving the Knicks would mean leaving that money and extra year on the table. Not only that but there aren’t many places he can go that give him a great chance at winning.

If he decides to leave the Knicks in search for a title and another big market, his choices will be extremely limited. In fact there may only be one choice, Chicago. The Bulls have put together a roster that plays hard every day. They’ve played the better part of two consecutive seasons without their best player, Derrick Rose—a former MVP—and have surpassed every expectation. They currently sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and last year they made it to the second round of the playoffs with a third string starting point guard. According to many news outlets the Bulls will go hard after Carmelo this offseason and it will be in both their best interests to join forces.

The Bulls went to New York last week and laid a beating on the Knicks; they jumped off to a 16 to one lead and never looked back and won 109-90. Anthony witnessed firsthand how good the Bulls can be without him and Rose. Imagine what they could be with him and Rose. The Bulls need Melo to get past LeBron’s Heat. Melo needs the Bulls to become a champion. They would make a perfect match.

Michael Jordan is the greatest player ever to wear a basketball uniform but one ring for Carmelo puts him in the same territory as Jordan. One ring and one more gold medal put him in his own exclusive territory. Carmelo has a choice coming up, he can continue losing in New York or he can win that elusive ring. To do so, though, he’ll have to wear the same uniform as the greatest ever.

If the Knicks left New York, would anyone notice...or even care?

New York and sports go hand-in-hand. There have been a long line of great sports franchises that have come from the New York region. The rich history of winning sports franchises in New York has made the destination a must-see in all sports. Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden are two of the most well-known sports complexes in the world. While sports in New York have such a strong link in most sports, basketball in New York hasn’t been so affable.

Many people thought LeBron James would sign with the New York Knicks following his reign in Cleveland. People thought the biggest star needed to play on the biggest stage. In baseball, yes, New York is the biggest stage. In football New York is, arguably, the biggest stage. But New York being the biggest stage in basketball is laughable.

In New York alone the Knicks are, at best, the fifth most liked franchise behind both baseball teams and both football teams. Even the New York Rangers in hockey might be more well-liked than the Knicks. The Knicks have won two championships since their inception in 1946 and those were in the early 1970’s. The team was able to bring in one of the best offensive players in Carmelo Anthony and they still can’t win.

When it comes to the NBA fans don’t think of the Knicks first. The history of the league is based around two franchises, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Following them would be the Chicago Bulls because of Jordan’s legacy and then there are a handful of teams that would come before the Knicks. In the NBA, New York is not an ideal location for anyone. The Knicks franchise has weak ownership, front office and coaching. There is no discipline on the players and they do one thing consistently well, lose.

Ask a New York sports fan the last time the Mets won a championship. They will know it was 1986; they’ll probably be able to tell you the defining moment of the World Series was when Bill Buckner let the ball roll through his legs. Ask that fan when the last time the Jets won a Super Bowl was. While they might not know the season, 1968-69, they should be able to tell you Joe Namath guaranteed victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. The point is the Mets and Jets usually play second fiddle to the Yankees and Giants and fans can still tell you about their greatest successes.

Besides playing in New York in “the most famous arena in the world,” there isn’t much pull to the Knicks. The Knicks haven’t been truly relevant since the 90’s when Patrick Ewing would go head-to-head with Jordan every year. Now they’re boring. They bring in stars and still lose. They’re not even good enough for opposing team’s fans to hate them because they have no substance. They’re not interesting anymore.

It will take a lot for the Knicks to be truly relevant and fun to watch again. They aren’t going to be able to bring great players so they will have to build a winning franchise with great drafts, smart trades and good personnel decisions. If they keep the status quo they will be in danger of playing second fiddle to the Brooklyn Nets, if they aren’t already.