Why Carmelo Anthony Isn't a Franchise Player

The tirade that Colangelo unleashed on Chris Bosh wasn’t just calling him a quitter, it had a much more cutting insult hidden in it. The message was this: you were not “the man” here and I feel kind of silly thinking that you ever were. That got my brain working. If Bosh, a 20-10 guy isn’t a true franchise player, who else isn’t either? I thought of a few names but they all seemed like second tier guys. Then I found a perennial All Star who fit the bill.

Carmelo Anthony.

I quickly tried to refute my own statements in my head. How could Carmelo not be a franchise player? The guy is a bona fide superstar. He can drop 30 in his sleep. He outplays anybody who is placed in front of him. He is arguably the best player in the NBA.

While those are all valid points they don’t tell the whole story. The biggest omitted fact is that Carmelo Anthony is a quitter. He isn’t a leader. He gets frustrated when things don’t go his way and is holding his team hostage by not signing an extension (Thanks LeBron). He has failed to win anything despite the drastic changes that the Nuggets have made around him. Let’s look back at those changes shall we?

First years in the league:

With Andre Miller at the helm, this team had a few good years despite the fact they had little to no talent. They kept adding pieces and eventually nabbed Camby and Martin. Anthony kept increasing his scoring but was still known as only a passable defender. This group never made it out of the first round.

Allen Iverson Era:

The Nuggets shook up the league by trading for the disgruntled Allen Iverson. The teams scoring soared and they made a few runs in the playoffs. Despite having great defenders on the team, the defense was horrible. This “run and gun” team also never made it out of the first round.

Chauncey Billups Era:

Denver made headlines again by trading for Detroit’s Billups and sending Iverson packing. With this trade Denver finally got a capable running mate for Anthony leader on the floor to make sure the coach’s game plan was executed. As a result, they got out of the first round and made a run to the Western Conference Finals. After putting a scare into the Lakers they collapsed in game 5 and folded in game 6. Year two brought another successful regular season followed by a loss to Utah that was based on the illness of George Karl.

When will people stop making excuses for this guy? When he had a great pass first point guard in Andre Miller, they said he needed a scorer to take the load off of him. When they lost with Iverson, they said he needed a combination of the two. Now that they have Billups, they need Chris Paul? Really?

That’s just one position, what about defense? Well, they were one of the best defensive teams in the league over the last two years. They went and got Kenyon Martin and Chris Anderson. Scoring punch? JR Smith. Perimeter defender? Aaron Afflalo. Coach? They signed Karl.

So what are the Nuggets missing?

A franchise player.

Tagged: carmelo anthony, denver nuggets, nba