What Carmelo Anthony Must Do to Become True NBA Superstar

Carmelo Anthony—superstar.

That's a sentence many say with regularity, but I'm still waiting to type it as a definitive fact.

But what makes a superstar, anyway? Anthony is a fantastic case study.

There are holes in his game at the defensive end, and he certainly loves going iso-Melo and steering the offensive approach toward heavy isolation plays, but there's no doubting the idea that he's a very skilled player.

An elite scorer who can be downright unstoppable at times, Anthony hasn't done anything to earn the "superstar" label in the league.

The love/hate relationship between Anthony and Knicks fans has gone on since he arrived to New York.

When he's good, he's really good and absolutely revered. But when he's bad? Well, that's a completely different story.

Back in April of 2011, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports penned a column on Anthony's Game 2 in the first round against the Boston Celtics.

Remember that?

That was the game where 'Melo was absolutely on fire. With 42 points, 17 rebounds and six assists, Anthony stole the show, despite his team going down in an 0-2 hole to the Boston Celtics, the team that would go on to sweep New York out of the first round.

Wojnarowski captured the moment brilliantly.

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And once again, this was enough for Carmelo Anthony. Once again, he still doesn’t understand that a superstar’s code calls for different disposition when a losing playoff night is over. Whatever he’s done, it isn’t enough. Let everyone else praise you, but the superstar doesn’t take bows when his team is down 2-0 in a series where he ended one game missing 10 of 11 shots.

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Here's the thing: Wojnarowski has a point. Would Kobe Bryant or LeBron James be satisfied with a loss?

And it's not just about the loss. It's not just about personal performance. This is about Melo's leadership on and off the floor.

Again, via Wojnarowski:

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He never acted like a leader in Denver, and nothing’s changed in New York. He had come to New York, because he said he wanted to be a winner.

When Anthony had a chance to close out the game, he made the safest possible play to ultimately deflect criticism, the one that deep down he knew would free him of blame when it predictably crumbled.

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Does that really sound like a superstar?

Anthony's career postseason record is now 17-36. With his Knicks down 3-1 in the first-round series to the Miami Heat, that record isn't going to get better this season.

So how does Anthony move from elite player to superstar? How does he tiptoe across that tightrope of a bridge and make the jump as a player?

The coach he lobbied to retain, Mike Woodson, offered the following advice (via Marc Berman of the New York Post):

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Expectations aren’t going to change in New York, you know that, They shouldn’t. Rightfully so. Anthony’s going to have to raise his game. He’s got to do things this summer to better his game—as well as Tyson [Chandler] and Amar’e [Stoudemire]. If I’m the head coach here, I have to make sure it happens. It’s the only way to get out of the rut in terms of him being a first-round exit. He’s got to change that.”

"

Now that Anthony is where he wants to be, he should take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask himself a simple question.

What does it take to become a superstar?

Lifting the play of his teammates would be a good start. It would also help Anthony grow if he began to take responsibility for the Knicks' shortcomings since he's been aboard.

Winning in the postseason would certainly help as well, but it's more than those factors alone.

When Anthony is ready to step up and be the leader of this team both on and off the floor, we'll know that he may be ready to grow into the role so many have pegged for him.

And that's when I finally might be ready to argue the case for Carmelo Anthony as a true superstar.