In Rio de Janeiro last year, Anthony, a cornerstone of the American team, earned his third Olympic championship.
At 33, Carmelo Anthony is a lot closer to the end of his career than the beginning. His trade from the Knicks to Oklahoma City on Saturday had the feel of a last chance to go for a championship.
Few would knock Anthony’s basketball talent. The main criticism he faces is his teams’ lack of success over the years. In 14 seasons with the Knicks and the Denver Nuggets, Anthony made it to the playoffs 10 times. But his teams have lost in the first round on eight of those visits. His playoff series record is 3-10, with just one trip to the conference finals, in 2009 with Denver.
But there is one way in which Anthony stands out as the consummate winner. In Rio de Janeiro last year, he earned his third Olympics gold medal, the most for any male basketball player.
Most male basketball Olympians play in the Games once, maybe twice, then bow out to make way for younger players. The 2016 team did not include several former gold medalists, including LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul, who would surely have made the team again had they chosen to play.
But Anthony has signed up for four Olympic teams. His first appearance, at age 20 in 2004, was a losing one. Coming off his rookie season, Anthony guaranteed a gold medal during the training camp. But the United States lost three times, to Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentina, and wound up with a bronze medal.
“I didn’t sign up to lose,” he said afterward . “It was embarrassing.”
Anthony was not a key part of that team, which starred Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan and Stephon Marbury. He averaged just 2 points a game. Anthony noted that it was the first time in his life that he hadn’t been a starter.
Anthony’s experience was far better the next three Games. The United States was 24-0 over that span and won the gold medal each time.
Before 2008, Anthony expressed his desire for victory in a first-person article in The New York Times . “I have a very bitter taste in my mouth from the 2004 Olympics, as if I just ate a sour grapefruit or something,” he wrote. “This summer in Beijing, we’re going to drink a lot of Kool-Aid, because revenge is going to be sweet.”
Anthony got that revenge, averaging 12 points a game. At the time, he would not commit to another Games, much less two. “ After this Olympics, I’ll think about it,” he said. But he did come back.
In 2012, he averaged 16 points a game, second only to Kevin Durant on the American team.
And he defied expectations by returning the Olympics last year. “I’ve been a part of USA Basketball since I was a junior in high school,” Anthony told USA Today . “I actually like it. I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity. Who wouldn’t want to play with the best players in the world? It’s easy for everybody.”
Even at 32, he was a vital part of the team, second to Durant in scoring and minutes played, third in rebounding and fourth in assists. By the end of the Games, he had also become the United States’ top Olympic scorer of all time, with 336 points. (The Hall of Famer Oscar Schmidt, who played in five Olympics for Brazil, leads all nations with 1,093.)
After Rio, Anthony announced his retirement from the United States team. “I’ve seen the worst and I’ve seen the best, and I stuck with it — we stuck with it,” he said on NBC . “And I’m here today, three gold medals later.”
The N. B. A. ring still awaits, but Anthony’s legacy as a star of the international game is secure.
