By Dan Carney
Sports Columnist
Once the 2014 NBA offseason officially kicked off, star free agent forward Carmelo Anthony’s destination was immediately rumored to be with the Chicago Bulls. With the New York Knicks having limited future talent, draft picks, and playoff promise, many NBA fans found it odd if the 7-time NBA All-Star was to sign a long term agreement with the struggling team.
If Anthony wanted to make a career-shifting move for future playoff success, the Bulls guaranteed that notion. Playing alongside the likes of former MVP Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol, and Joakim Noah could have aided the former Syracuse Orangeman to his first deep playoff run. While on the other hand, no bright spots came to mind in the depleted roster of the Knickerbockers. The 2014 summer truthfully came down to one decision for Carmelo; Chicago or the Big Apple?
Though the Lakers and the Mavericks were an option, Los Angeles was in the exact same rebuilding predicament as New York, despite Anthony showing desire to play with 5-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, and Dallas didn’t appeal to him either, being an East Coast native.
All rumors and speculation that “Melo” was to team up with D-Rose and company ended early in the summer, as he agreed on July 13, 2014 to a five-year deal reportedly worth over $124 million. I think it’s safe to say even the people of New York were shocked when the 30-year-old agreed. Why lock up the years remaining in your prime for a team that will be mediocre at best in the future? Why work to build a scrubby team into a contender that may not even be what a contender will ever embody? Why not sign with a team that already IS a contender?
Melo didn’t wait to reveal his reason for the controversial decision, saying just a day after in an official statement that “a few years ago I dreamed of coming back to New York City, the place of my birth, and on February 23, 2011 that became a reality. This organization has supported me and in return, I want to stay and build here with this city and my team. At this pivotal juncture in my career, I owed it to myself and my family to explore all of the options available to me. Through it all, my heart never wavered.”
Fast forward to the present day. The Knicks are 4-20, on a 10-game losing streak, and struggling on all sides of the ball. It’s been over four and a half months since Anthony re-signed, taking a longer contract but less than a max deal to allow the franchise to build around him (still a massive amount of cash).
On November 28, 2014, the Carmelo saga got a tad more interesting. SB Nation reported a story that shows just how close the former Syracuse star was to making the Windy City his new home.
A new documentary, titled “Carmelo Anthony: Made in NY”, was obtained by the New York Post. “It came down to Chicago and New York,” said Anthony during the program.
“It was a perfect setup and perfect fit for me in Chicago. But also I had to think about just living in Chicago. Do I want to live in Chicago? Do I want to take everything I created in New York and move all of that? It came down to that. But there was one point in time I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going.”’
Now, sitting with a team that is 16 games below the .500 mark, it’s fun to wonder just what the Bulls would look like with Carmelo, Joakim Noah, and Rose running alongside each other. Did Anthony simply think of what it was like to take everything he “created” in New York, or did he ponder just how much not rebuilding a whole franchise could have possibly hurt his career goals?
Nevertheless, the Knickerbockers are the laughing stock of the NBA right now, and the team centerpiece is stranded. No turnaround is in sight, and the season already looks to be in the garbage to most. When Melo said ‘Oh, I’m going” (to Chicago), it could have led him to his first taste of playoff success, or even a ring if lucky.
New York doesn’t look as though they will be able to turn it around anytime soon, and as the season will continue to get more and more worthless for them, Carmelo will be left wondering what if I changed my mind in the summer of 2014.
