Carmelo Anthony

Bill Simmons on LeBron James...

"I had four conversations with connected NBA people over the weekend that centered around the same themes: LeBron isn't playing nearly as hard as he did last season; it looks like his only goal right now is to get his coach fired; he's regressing as a basketball player (especially his passing skills and his shot selection); he made a huge mistake firing his agent and turning his career over to his buddies back home (all of whom are in over their heads); he was a much bigger problem during the Olympics than anyone realized; he doesn't seem to be enjoying himself anymore; he has an overrated sense of his own worth and his own impact in the sports world (as witnessed by the ESPN interview last week when he answered the "What are your goals?" question with two words: "Global icon"); he's been protected by magazine fluff pieces and buddy-buddy TV interviews for far too long; he doesn't have the same relentless drive to keep dominating everyone like Wade and Kobe have; and basically, we're much closer to LeBron re-enacting the career arc of Martina Hingis, Eric Lindros and Junior Griffey than anyone realizes."

Ignoring the unfortunate jab at (steroid-free) Griffey, this paragraph immediately made me wonder if Carmelo Anthony might be positioned to surpass James over the long run after all. On pure talent alone, of course James is better. But James was handed the "King" title before he ever had to do anything to earn it. Maybe the reason Wade got so good so quickly is he was drafted behind Anthony and James. And maybe, just maybe, all these set-backs for Carmelo - missing all-star games, negative publicity at the Olympics, regular questions about his character - are going to make him better in the long run.

Carmelo's not a bad guy, like a lot of NBA players are, so if he gets the right people around him the character questions will fade away. He keeps improving every season and he's still very young. And he's had to re-prove himself since he enterred the NBA.