Editor's note: The opinions expressed here are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of NBA.com Philippines and Smart Communications, Inc.
When I first found out that Carmelo Anthony was going to the Los Angeles Lakers, I was happy. I was jubilant. I was ecstatic. I was jovial. What's another deep word for super happy? I was that happy. I’ve always been a fan of his game, his jumper, his swag—just Melo in general. I always tell my brothers and friends that if I’m going to copy anyone's jump shot, It would be Melo’s J. It's just so smooth, so consistent.
But with the way he's playing now, this is probably the greatest we're gonna see this Melo get. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the guy and how he's evolved as a player, but we can't expect him to have multiple 30-point games as he did during his days in New York. We can't expect him to be that type of player who always hits like four or five 3s per game. This is the best version of Melo—at the current stage of his career—we're seeing right now, so let’s just appreciate it.
What I love about Melo now is that he has embraced the veteran role and understands he’s not a superstar anymore. He's just there to spread the floor and knock down open jump shots for LeBron, AD, and Westbrook. And he's been doing great!
He's the kind of player whose mantra is “If you pass it to me—even if there’s a guy in my face—I'm gonna take the shot.” I think that's one important thing that's overlooked in basketball. If he isn’t open, is he going to pass it? Nah. Sometimes, you need a player who will shoot it when you kick it out to him, even if there's a close defender. Kailangan may tumitira talaga. It really spreads the floor.
But I can honestly say that I'm surprised with his hot start. I expected him to have a couple of big games or just be a reliable piece for the Lakers, as a shooter and, you know, just be a veteran presence. I knew he was coming off the bench, but I didn't think he would be finishing games, playing as much as he’s been playing, and making the number of 3s he's been hitting consistently game after game. That's surprising to me.
Realistically speaking, he's old. He's old and he's in the twilight of his career. He's going to be in the Hall of Fame, no doubt. I just thought Melo was going to simply finish his career as a Laker with LeBron, given he’s one of LeBron's closest friends. Simple as that. But man, it's different with the way that he's playing now.
I think it's more mental than anything. Mentally, he knows his role and he knows how to play with LeBron, AD, and Westbrook too. At this stage of his career, he is a perfect fit for the King and the Brow—a complementary player who gets buckets, shoots 3s, and plays smart.
Back then, he was super aggressive. No BS, physical, just banging people inside, getting the ball, rebounding—that is what I was a fan of before. Shoutout to Melo Denver and Melo Knicks! He didn't really didn't care who he was matched up against. There's a video that went viral a while back of him going up against Kobe. He didn't care who was in front of him. He was still young, but he wasn’t frightened to go at Kobe. He was super physical and they both went at it. And that was against Kobe Bryant, the best in the league at the time!
When Melo was out of the league for more than a year, I felt that he was a misunderstood player. But it was also on him! That's why I say everything now is just perfect timing. Because back then, he didn't want to give up his superstar status or didn't want to accept the role offered to him. I'm pretty sure he had offers but not the roles that he wanted. He was in denial, at least that's what I believed.
Melo was in denial that he was no longer that 20-year-old superstar you could just give the ball to and let him go to work. He couldn't accept that and teams couldn't accept that. So when he didn’t end up on any team or had trouble fitting in with teams, it just didn't match up. Melo was so good but his career as a top scorer was almost over.
But now, he’s more mature. I think about what he said after the Lakers beat the Rockets: "I think people don't really understand me. I think there's a misconception out there about me and not being able to adapt to situations. But I'm easily adaptable, man, to any situation."
If he said this quote three years ago, I wouldn't believe it. I would say, no, he's capping. That's not what he means. But now, at this stage of his career, I believe it. He's mature enough to understand that this is his role in this league and he's gonna be the best at it.
His role now is similar to his situation with Team USA. Whenever I watched him play for Team USA, I always thought that Melo had the perfect role as a wing. He's a big guy who can rebound and shoot 3s. Not the best defender, but decent enough. I always knew Melo would be unstoppable if he accepted a role as a shooter—a guy who can spread the floor and rebound the ball.
Some fans criticize Melo for not being able to produce the kind of numbers they are used to seeing from him. But Melo knows his role on the Lakers and that the team also knows what they want from him, so my plea to fellow fans is to just accept what he's doing now. Just chill. He's gonna have a couple of off-games, sure, but who doesn't? But we all know that he's going to bounce back. He always does. Plus, he's always going to stay Melo. And we should enjoy it while we can.
