Fans made some glaring omissions when voting for the NBA All-Star Game starters, but the coaches fixed things by leaving Carmelo Anthony home.
NBA coaches should stand up and take a bow. Finally, someone from this league of whiners, showoffs and hitters made a statement, when the coaches left Denver forward Carmelo Anthony out of the NBA All-Star Game.
Anthony is the leading scorer in the NBA, but he was suspended for 15 games for his part in a brawl at New York, when Anthony sucker-punched an opposing player, during the ugliest melee in the NBA this season.
For his part, Carmelo says he’s being treated unfairly. "Things happen," Anthony told the Associated Press in New York, prior to learning that he was not selected as an All-Star reserve.
"One incident like that is held over one person's head, life ain't fair."
Life ain’t fair? Give us a break. How fair is blind-siding a guy in a brawl during an NBA game, slugging him when he’s not looking, then running away, before the guy can fight back?
Maybe someone should show Carmelo a tape of his outlandish behavior, during that ignominious performance.
Anthony needs to shut his mouth, grab some popcorn and enjoy the NBA All-Star Game from the comforts of his home. Let the honorable men, Allen Iverson excluded, represent the best NBA players.
If Carmelo Anthony truly wants to redeem himself, he should support the decision of the coaches and say he understands that the league is making a statement by not rewarding someone who behaves like Anthony has.
It’s time for Anthony to be a man. If he wants to be one of the NBA’s top ambassadors, like other young stars, such as LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony needs to stop making bad decisions and start owning up to mistakes.
Meanwhile, NBA Commissioner David Stern can still right Anthony’s ship by naming him to replace injured Yao Ming.
Stern claimed he was clamping down on fighting in the NBA, when he doled out Carmelo’s punishment. Naming him to the All-Star game, now, would be like kissing Anthony’s cheek and saying he was too hard on him.
Here’s hoping that David Stern stands behind his coaches, and names a guy like Josh Howard or Ray Allen, two deserving players, who are both having great seasons.
