With the NBA season just around the baseline corner, new additions and changes have been made to a variety of teams.
The King is still in Believeland and the rooks are adjusting to their new castles, trying to make a name for themselves. However, there’s one player that has been getting his own buzz around social media and the league.
That name is Carmelo Anthony.
Similar to a dark horse, Anthony has been spotted rocking a hoodie during his offseason workouts, being labeled as Hoodie Melo.
The case of Melo comes with major setbacks, although he is a 10-time NBA All-Star selectee and a four-time Olympic medalist, there’s always that one question that lingers over his head like a rain cloud.
“Where’s your ring?”
In my opinion, his game is the truth, more so than a priest with his right hand on the Bible in the courtroom in front of the Lord himself. You can rewind all of his game footage from over the years, stop and figure out that he always came to play. When he won a national championship at Syracuse University under Head Coach Jim Boeheim, when he was with the Nuggets and even with the league’s most difficult team to play with, the New York Knicks.
Even previous League MVP Derrick Rose couldn’t blossom in Madison Square Garden, so now he has showered praise along with King James.
Although he possesses the talent, he always seems to come up short like former teammate Earl Boykins, who stands at 5 feet 5 inches, or he’s pulled back like the dreads he used to rock back in Denver with Allen Iverson.
The disrespect is there.
Without the ring, he is compared to every other all-star who has the finishing touches to their accolades. Even NBA 2K18 shed doubt on the man’s name by having his Hoodie Melo rating at 98, but his traditional player rating at a measly 84. This is essentially like getting cut from the team since those stats say he doesn’t deliver in regular season games.
That hasn’t stopped Anthony from putting the work in this offseason. Although the raining doubt from the critics is following him around, now he has the Oklahoma City Thunder to help him get his name right.
So, what’s under the hoodie?
It’s simple.
A true player, because with or without a ring, true players stay married to the game.
