KRIEGER: Immaturity shadows Nuggets' Anthony
By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 07:05 p.m., April 14, 2008
Updated 10:53 p.m., April 14, 2008
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Two days before the NBA season ends, as the Nuggets mount their final playoff drive, Carmelo Anthony is arrested for investigation of drunk driving at 4 a.m. on I-25.
The blood test won't be back for a couple of weeks. We won't know until then if he was legally drunk. We do know he was driving erratically on I-25 at 4 a.m. in a week when his team needs him more than ever.
And now, if the Nuggets are eliminated in the first round again in the NBA playoffs, Anthony's arrest will be linked with that outcome, and, in a larger sense, with the immaturity and lack of focus for which his team is known.
On the bright side, at least we know why players sleep until 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon, as Allen Iverson described the other night.
Not that Iverson does stupid stuff like this anymore. He did some stupid stuff as a young man, owned up to it publicly and moved on. But then, Iverson is 32.
Anthony is 23. He's still basically a kid. And he acts like one.
The one oddity of the arrest was the police explanation that Anthony's failure to dim the headlights on his silver Mercedes was a clue to his probable inebriation. If they arrested everyone who fails to dim his lights on I-25, we would need all Denver's hotel rooms for jail cells, and then we wouldn't have any room for the Democrats.
Unfortunately, for Anthony it's still all about Anthony, and you don't have to check his headlights to know it. Take a guess at the first question for every Nuggets player at practice today.
Um, Marcus, is Melo's drunk driving arrest a distraction for you guys?
Um, A.I., what do you think about Melo being arrested for drunk driving on the eve of the playoffs?
Uh, 'Khouba, do you think you might get more playing time now that Carmelo's been arrested for drunk driving?
Uh, Melo? Melo? You talking, Melo?
Blame the wretches if you like, but that's life in the fishbowl and everybody in there knows it. In exchange for these annoyances, you get paid millions of dollars and wear diamond earrings the size of small sailboats.
This is what Anthony has brought down on his team. Not on purpose. Just out of young, self-absorbed carelessness. Just out of not appreciating the magnitude of the moment, out of not caring enough that this would be a good week to get his rest and try to lead the Nuggets out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Instead, he's out partying and driving close enough to drunk that police say he failed roadside sobriety tests.
The Nuggets front office, of course, had no comment. The lack of leadership here starts at the top.
Look, I'm the wrong guy to deliver a moral lecture on drinking and driving. I was stopped years ago on the 405 in L.A. Melo's lucky he didn't spend the night in jail. I did. They took my belt and shoelaces. Somehow, I couldn't stop thinking about how I would go about hanging myself with shoelaces.
We've come a long way in our understanding of the costs of drunk driving since I was a kid, when the phrase "designated driver" did not yet exist.
We see the small memorials and bouquets for the victims, so many of them defenseless young people, on rural roads and city streetlamps and highway guardrails.
We like to think we've beaten it. And yet, there are, what, a million restaurants and bars out there serving alcohol every night of the week? And the vast majority of their customers are paying their checks and getting into cars to go home. That remains a fact of American life.
Sometimes, it takes an event like this one to knock some sense into the fool who does this. It did for me. With any luck, it will for Anthony.
After all, he has an easy solution. As an e-mailer put it, "These guys have millions of dollars. Get someone to drive!"
Maybe Anthony has had so much trouble with his posse that he figured he was better off on his own. But the truth is, he's developing a public image of immaturity and indifference that gets harder to shake with each incident.
We have already seen the Stop Snitching video, the pot in his luggage at the airport, the pot in a car registered to his company just before he signed his $80 million contract extension. You don't see this stuff from LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, rivals from his draft class who have taken their teams farther already.
It is past time for Anthony to care more about his team and the messages he sends to his vast public. Past time to accept the concept of responsibility. Past time to grow up.
Comments
Posted by duboisb on April 14, 2008 at 11:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
KIck 'em when there's down. If you want to say something about Carmelo's immaturity, you should have said it before.
What a cheap shot by a shoddy reporter.
Shame on you.
Posted by sickandtired on April 14, 2008 at 11:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No, shame on you duboisb.
Good grief, almost every word of this article is plain fact. What, you're gonna dispute that getting arrested for suspicion of drunk driving ISN'T immature? Krieger almost certainly got assigned by his editor to write a story on this. That's his job. What did you want him to say - it's all the cops fault?
Krieger's the best sportswriter in Denver. He's not a patsy for management of Denver's teams, like almost all the rest are.
It's just about the most fair-handed article anyone could possibly write. This isn't the first, or the second, or the third time that Carmelo has been caught in a situation that comes to the attention of the authorities.
Why do so many of you on these posts get upset when the facts are pointed out about your favorite players? Yes, a lot of people have gotten DUI's - those who have matured a little admit it was a stupid thing to do, and they DON'T defend it anymore. Almost all of this article is simply stating facts, and you're taking it personally, as if it's not only a slam to Carmelo, but to you also. Or that someone is being "picked on". Unreal.
It's a fact that ballplayers make so much money, because everything they do can be highly publicized. That's the tradeoff for all the money and fame. And the highest-paid players are sooner or later expected (by both the team's management, and most of its fans) to conduct themselves with at least some maturity. If they don't, they're usually gotten rid of. That's the unwritten deal every player who makes a ton of money enters into.
Posted by cap on April 14, 2008 at 11:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm sure MELO is focused on the playoffs!!!!!!!!!!!REPORTERS need to have their brains examined!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by AnToneB on April 14, 2008 at 11:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All I can say is a Limo Ride was a phone call away. He should have made the freaking call. and been safe and sound at home. A simple freaking call would have saved him all this drama.
Posted by stop2006 on April 15, 2008 at 12:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
of course Carmelo has made a mistake like everybody does and that's not an excuse. he is just 23 years old so he's still young. .i think the nuggets leader should be Allen iverson because i still not ready. next season the nuggets has to make moves to upgrade the team and the first thing change the damn coach bring in Jeff Van Gundy or whoever still wants to coach.
Posted by rwlightburn on April 15, 2008 at 4:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If he cares so much about his family why wasn't he home with his family. If he cares so much about his team how come he wasn't home getting rest and getting ready to make the playoffs and advance to the finals. How come overpaid athletes don't know that alcohol and drugs are detrimental to their health, endurance, stamina. You would think an overpaid athlete would keep his body in the best condition for peak performance day in and day out. Instead of depriving it of sleep and killing brain cells with alcohol. We have lost faith in you Carmello. Nuggets can kiss getting ahead in the playoffs good bye with your kind of attitude.
Posted by jt on April 15, 2008 at 6:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You're spot on rwlightburn, Carmelo should go about his life in a robotic manner without any emotion. Just eat, sleep, and breath basketball. In no way should he blow off any steam, or have any vices. And he should come out and just let everyone know he's an overpaid athlete. After all the industry that pays him has never made a dime on top of his salary. In the end we all know that a player who makes a mistake at 23 will never amount to much, never win a championship, never see the inside of the hall of fame, he's done for. All faith in him has been lost at 23.
Now back to the real world. Carmelo will win a championship, maybe more. He'll grow up with every passing day. And in the end, people such as yourself will act as if you've had his back with every bump in the road. GO NUGGETS!!!!!!!!!
Posted by rainman on April 15, 2008 at 6:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Krieger tries to justify being able to write about Carmelo being pulled over for a possible DUI by referencing a time when he was also pulled over. Remember that Krieger and the Rocky Mountain News are in the business to sell news papers. If Krieger was really concerned about a young man (Carmelo) making a mistake. Why doesn't he tell us how spending the night in jail has helped change his life. Have you quit - drinking, drinking and driving and what are you doing, being a person in the public to educate people about your past mistake?
I'm not saying that nobody should report that Carmelo got in trouble. But don't write a story indicating that if the Nuggets are eliminated from the payoffs in the first round, you can blame Carmelo. What if the win the first round will you give credit to Carmelo?
Question for Krieger, If Carmelo would not have gotten in trouble would the Rocky Mountain News have put the story about the Nuggets making the playoffs somewhere before page 12 and there Rockies?
Posted by MrsA100 on April 15, 2008 at 9:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Alright-perspective from a Mother: Guys like this are the reason I discourage my kids from being sports fans.
I don't want my kids looking up to these types.
I encourage their participation in sports, but when we see so many athletes, such as this one, who are thugs in sports garb, I make sure I point out the idiocy of throwing away a great opportunity.
I have great DISRESPECT for sports clubs who don't cut these losers immediately.
There are lots of talented athletes who can replace losers such as this guy.
Posted by TONE on April 15, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Man O Man, Welcome to the world of the NUGGET!!!
One moment, champion calibert team and another, well, Eastern Conference team. The mental attitude, still a work in progess...
Melo is really having his share of bad attention. I know he was not groom to be like King Jame, but I thought he was suppose to be alot better then Wade. Hmmm..... OOps, I forgot, Wade is more mature then Melo is. Wade has more education also. He was draft alot lower also too, but he made a name for himself by working for it. Now if the draft was a do over, I think Wade might have been #1.
What I'm trying to say is, Melo need to really make a name for himself like Wade did. Be a star on the field and be a star off also. Melo got the money, man hire Anthony Robin or Zig Ziglar to help coach the mental side.
Man I got my finger cross and tied up hoping that maybe this Nugget can do what the Nugget era when Muntombo was here can do. Upset the #1 seed and maybe sneak into the final...
NUGGET vs CELTIC, NBA Final!
GO NUGGET!!!!
Posted by Coltgm on April 15, 2008 at 10:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just a story that someone had to write to do their job. I am NOT defending drunk driving it is dangerous and the guilty should be punished and kept off of our streets.
Carmelo is 23, think about this. What are some of the things you did when you were 23 that you are not proud of? How would you like the world to know about all of them? Carmelo is a famous athelete and his privacy is the price he pays for this fame. He should have made a better decision, he did not. This does not mean he is a thug and a gangster. After a big win he chose to celebrate, bad timeing I agree. This does not make him a thug and a gangster! Many things that happen in our life help us to grow, some of them are not always positive. I am sure Carmelo will take responsibility for his actions and blame no one but himself. He will stand up be a man,learn from this mistake, and unfortunately make others. Carmelo also does good things, his is not perfect neither am I or Krieger. I guess the people writing, hateing, and name calling feel they are. GO NUGGETS!!!
Posted by wahly22 on April 15, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said "jt". It's nice to have other REAL Nuggets fans posting on these.
Carmelo's a young guy who has made a few mistakes. Can any of us say that at 23 we're not making similar mistakes? I'm 30 and still make mistakes like this. It happens. I have no problem with a guy working his tail off to help get his team to the playoffs and then have a few drinks afterwards. It's no different than a construction worker, banker, postal carrier, etc having a drink after work.
Real Nuggets fans haven't lost faith in you, 'Melo. Only the fake, bandwagon jumping people that apparently have nothing better to do than bash a talented and gifted young man. Use this as motivation and start tearing through the playoffs. Learn from A.I. He made mistakes as a youth and overcame them. The real supporters know you will too.
GO NUGGETS!!!
Posted by kilgatron on April 15, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LaRussa? Mickey Mantle? A certain Cornhusker coach of years gone by? Were they all immature? No, they were protected, at least for awhile. Sure, it was wrong, but were these players/coaches 23? I certainly won't judge him. I was a FOOL at 23, just getting ready to get married. Hang in there 'Melo, and Hire A DRIVER! You make mills, pay thous.
Posted by kilgatron on April 15, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mrs A you are wrong. There are very few players who can replace C.A. You just don't watch the NBA. Put your stones down and back away. A little understanding, please.
Posted by luvwknd on April 15, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To Mr. Krieger
Your comment "we would need all Denver's hotel rooms for jail cells, and then we wouldn't have any room for the Democrats" is asinine and not related to the article in any way, shape or form and simply shows that you are an IDIOT Repuklician and after the quality of life us Americans have had over the last 8 years under your DICTATOR, you should be really proud of your party. In addition, you should be really proud that your gay party picked John McSame to run as you Repuklicans obviously like what GWB has done over his term in office, otherwise you wouldn’t have pick McInsane!
Repuklicans suck!
Mr. Krieger…you too suck!
As far as Mello goes, he’ll get over it and move along fine! It’s doubtful he is a Repuklican!
Posted by Ramm on April 15, 2008 at 1:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
He'll slide. He's a local pro 'baller! Plus he will get the best defense that $ can buy.
Posted by Shaupeen on April 15, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Um, ok I'll take the time to explain it to luvwknd. But this is my turn, and someone else is going to have to do this next time!
luvwknd, Mr. Krieger meant that there would be no hotel rooms available for the Democrats, not jail cells. He was not saying that Democrats belong in jail. Nor was he making any political comment except acknowledging that there will be a large convention here in August. Perhaps you should try to read for understanding, instead of being the walking poster-child for the Republicans school voucher system. They don't need any more help getting that approved. And maybe you should talk to someone about your pent-up rage. It seems pretty powerful.
Also, it's almost cute the way you inserted the quasi-word "puk" into the word republican. Almost, but not quite. Actually, not cute or clever. But nice try.
Posted by casual on April 15, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You only need to read the justifications, excuses and denials many posters make here for Anthony's negative actions past and present to understand completely why so many professional athletes never grow up or understand responsibility.
Posted by pzswim on April 15, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
luvwknd, thanks for proving that democrats are stupid.
Posted by kmeissner on April 15, 2008 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have to admit, he finally wrote an article that didn't bash the Nugs or the Broncos. He simply stated the facts. We still don't even know if he was legally intoxicated so we should be waiting for the outcome before we make judgements. Even if it's true, he'll get off and the Nugs will be fine. Thank God he didn't kill someone on the road if he was drunk.
This won't fold out until the off-season so it won't matter in the playoffs this year. That's where I don't agree... If we don't make it past the first round, I'm sure it'll be used as an excuse but it won't be the REAL reason they don't advance.
This is THE YEAR for the Nugs! The West is up for the taking!
Go Nugs!!!!!
Posted by spursfanincolorado on April 15, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
now i am really LMAO not only at the THUGgets but the THUGFANS too defending carmello come on thugfans seriously
Posted by Shaggy on April 15, 2008 at 3:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think Mello should have opted for the breath test instead of the blood test.
Now his THC levels will be exposed.
Posted by mark79trans on April 15, 2008 at 3:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If Carmelo made "a" mistake, I could understand that. However, Mr.. Melo is a chronic spoiled child in everything that he does. The sucker punch ended the last season, and this move will probably end this season. This guy is our franchise player...he acts more like a spoiled thug from Baltimore. His style of play is very selfish...I find little enjoyment in his antics on or off the court. I think the Nuggets would be better off trading him for some real or at the very least committed talent. If he wants to continue as a franchise player and an all-star, he needs to grow up.
QUOTE: "You don't see this stuff from LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, rivals from his draft class who have taken their teams farther already." Melo does not in any way add up to either one of these guys! A.I. is the face of the Nuggets; not Anthony...after the sucker punch, I am sure this was intentional. This team is coming together, finally...Anthony's selfishness and erratic play is the weakest link! People can say what they want about the Spurs; but you don't see this kind of crap coming from the stars on their team...the reason they are always battling for the championship. This potential DUI is not the problem; like Krieger said, Anthony's selfishness and immaturity is the problem whether he is on or off the court. This guy is making way too much money for this kind of behavior!
Posted by spursfanincolorado on April 15, 2008 at 4:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
like krieger said "the lack of leadership here starts at the top"
Posted by shesgotthejack on April 15, 2008 at 5:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Carmelo is human. Every over payed athlete is human. We all make bad decisions, Carmelo has just made alot of bad choices in a short period of time. He will grow up. If this was just an ordinary person, a regular 9 to 5 worker, you would of never heard anything about it. He or she would of been punished more. . .like staying over night in jail and paying high legal fees, etc. It's the American society that has created this, it probably will never change! The more money you make, the more you get away with. . .simple isn't it?
Posted by HolierThanThou on April 15, 2008 at 9:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
He looks rather grown up to me.
He's old enough to legally drink. So, he had a few. Big deal...
The real crime is that, like so many a-holes driving around today, he refuses to dim his lights for oncoming traffic.
And yes, those things you a-holes call "fog lights", those are high beams. Shut'em off, sh*t for brains.
Posted by cruel_spade3 on April 16, 2008 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Melo screws up just in time for the playoffs. Luckily nobody got hurt due to his attitude about driving around drunk. At least he is taking responsibility for his actions. It doesn't make the offense any less criminal, but it does admit to something. He'll get off with a slap on the wrist, but the team might have to play one or more games without him in the playoffs. If there was ever a chance of beating LA it just went downtown in handcuffs.
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