7 questions for Carmelo Anthony

By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 2, 2008 at 3:21 p.m.

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Photo by Barry Gutierrez

Carmelo Anthony shows off his Gold medal from the Beijing Olympics.

With a weight off his shoulders and an Olympic gold medal around his neck, Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony held a news conference Tuesday in Denver before heading east for a busy week of basking in the spotlight.

Anthony will be one of several U.S. Olympians to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show, which tapes Wednesday in Chicago. He then will head to his hometown of Baltimore, where he will throw out the first pitch at Camden Yards on Friday night and serve as an honorary captain for the Ravens' season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Before leaving town, Anthony took 5 minutes to chat with Rocky Mountain News' Aaron J. Lopez.

1. What Chinese traditions did you get to experience during your time in Beijing?

"As far as the traditional stuff like food, we really didn't get a chance to do that. We had a chef that would cook for us. We really didn't try any traditional food over there. ... Just being around the people over there, seeing the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square, you're almost forced to feel like you're bringing something back from Beijing."

2. After taking part in two Olympics with USA Basketball, is there another sport you think you could play?

"I wanna play handball, man. The U.S. needs to get a handball team. I'm pretty sure we can get some guys to go out there and play handball."

3. Usain Bolt of Jamaica set world records in the 100- and 200-meter dash. Could he run the wing on a fast break?

"He could run the wing. I don't know if he's going to be able to finish. I don't know his basketball skills. But he can sure get out there and run the wings, though. ... I saw him run one (race). I ain't never seen nobody run that damn fast before."

4. After you settled for the bronze medal four years ago in Athens, the rumor was that you threw it in the lake? Where is the bronze and will it now get banished to the closet while the gold medal sits in the trophy case?

"I don't have a lake where I'm from. I'm part of that history, too, in Athens. I'm part of that bronze medal team. I can put it right next to this gold medal and say, 'I had to go through this to get me my gold medal.' "

5. Along with Michael Jordan and Barack Obama, Oprah is probably the biggest name in Chicago. Have you met her and what do you think about going on her show?

"I met her probably once. I'm looking forward to the show. I was excited when she reached out to me and said she wanted me on the show."

6. You committed to playing defense and rebounding for Team USA. How do you respond to the critics who say you need to have that same commitment when you play for the Nuggets?

"Every year it's been people saying I can't do this or I can't do that. Y'all will see something different, I can tell you that. ... Even the greatest out there, people say they shouldn't be great because they can't do this or they can't do that. That's just motivation, man. People have their opinions. Now if people wasn't saying anything about me, then that's when I'd be worried."

7. Why will the 2008-09 season be any different for the Nuggets than your first five seasons in the NBA?

"We want to prove to everybody that we can do it, that we do have Allen Iverson, that we do have Kenyon Martin, that we do have a good team. People take that for granted."

• September 3, 2008

  7:09 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  Don't snitch!

• September 3, 2008

  8:45 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  anthony1979 writes:

  Who would have ever thought ANYONE from the Nuggets organization would be on Oprah?? That's whats up Melo!! Go Nuggets 08-09!! Keep doing big things and don't let mistakes get in your way...we all have them, it's how you respond that either makes you great or a fake.

• September 3, 2008

  1:17 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  MtnRooster writes:

  Mutumbo could have been on Oprah for his work in Africa.

• September 4, 2008

  6:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  AIfan333 writes:

  Melo really irritates me, you mean ALL dank season he can't play some D for his team but all of a sudden he goes to Beijing and he's actually playing hard!? Playing with heart?! Man memo is just something else he better bring his newly found skills to Denver in November!

• September 5, 2008

  11:01 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  zachm219 writes:

  We all know AI is done in denver after this year, there is no doubt anymore the Nuggets are Melo's team, the front office has made that perfectly clear. So i guess we live or die with him........

• September 20, 2008

  12:11 a.m.

  huskerfantrappedincolorado writes:

  (This comment was removed by the site staff.)

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