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Carmelo Anthony: Can Play High Level of Basketball for 4 or 5 Years

By William Lee

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On the last day of training camp Carmelo Anthony said that he can still play at a high level of basketball for quite some time, as per Ian Begley of ESPN.

"“four or five years.”“Without a doubt. Without a doubt,”"

This sounds particularly optimistic because not only is Anthony entering his 13th NBA season at the age of 31, but is also recovering from left knee surgery. Although Anthony claims that the surgery is preciously why he is confident in his ability to perform in the long-term. Anthony also states that he never relied on his athleticism so any decline in natural abilities will not bother the New York Knicks‘ superstar.

"“I wasn’t a guy who would run straight to surgery for anything. But I think now, getting taken care of this, really put me in position to perform at a high level for the next four or five years,”“If I was a guy who kind of played above the rim and played at a fast pace and just running and jumping — that was my game, very athletic — then I’d probably be sitting here singing a different tune,”“But the way that I play, the way that I know how to pace myself, the way I know how to pick my spots out on the basketball court, I’m not a guy who’s playing above the rim every play so it works in my favor.”"

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Pick his spots…that always was the problem though with Melo… Anthony seems to always save all his energy on the offensive end and just never seemed all that interested on the defensive end. Although when Anthony does focus in defensively, he is very effective. Which is even more maddening because you can tell it is just a matter of effort. So…basically Anthony is already an expert at pacing himself and picking his spot. That is nothing new or anything of concern.

Anthony saying he can still be elite for four or five years is not the only loud proclamation he made this week. Earlier in the week, Anthony proclaimed his window for an NBA Championship is still open and that in fact the Knicks this year is competing for that title. Of course this is cliche and every player should be saying this but nonetheless these are some highly unrealistic expectations.

Anthony felt that this week’s training camp was a good test for his surgically repaired knee after being medically cleared last week. Entering training camp, Anthony also said that he felt mentally and physically great.

"“I thought this week was a good test for me, getting through the two a days and seeing how my body was going to react to that,”“Playing and scrimmaging before training camp, four or five days a week, spending two, two and a half hours on the court scrimmaging and nothing else, there were a lot of tests I had to get through mentally.”"

With Anthony going through training camp without any setback, Melo says he will continue with his rehab process in preparation for this upcoming season.

"“I’m still going to continue to rehab every day. I think the further along we go the better it will be.”"

It will be interesting to see how many minutes Anthony will play in the upcoming preseason games. You would think that Anthony would hardly play and just rest up for the upcoming season, but the preseason is also the perfect time for Anthony to shed any rust from the surgery as well. Anthony does need to test his knee in real game action, and not just in this past week’s training camp practices.

The Knicks, as an organization will have to weigh the cost and benefits of playing Anthony in preseason. Playing Anthony minutes in the preseason will truly be a double-edged sword.

Next: Knicks Rested Rookie Kristaps Porzingis on Friday

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