By Dave Cooperman

Carmelo Anthony had one of those playoff moments that have a way of following a player around for years.  You want to talk about Melo, you will point to last night.  Unfortunately it won’t have anything to do with his 39 points, his 11 rebounds or his 4 steals.  It will certainly have nothing to do with the Nuggets game 4 loss to the Jazz which puts them in a 3-1 series hole.  It has everything to do with this:

“I’m trying to do everything I can in my power to beat the Jazz, but at the end of the day I need some help,” Anthony said. “I’m not sitting here pointing fingers at anybody, but as a unit we’ve got to do it together.”

And with that, the wheels on the bus ran over 11 other Nuggets and a few coaches. If Melo isn’t pointing fingers here, I would hate to see him play the blame game with his teammates.  I would have to imagine it would have the potential to get Arenas level ugly in that locker room if fingers were ever actually pointed.

The bottom line is that Carmelo Anthony, who to his credit had a fantastic game, hung his team out to dry.  He comes across as a selfish, me first type player who is on his way to a career filled with outstanding numbers and no rings.  In the NBA that gives you plenty of comparisons, but not the best of company.

The foot in mouth syndrome is nothing new to Melo.  The infamous Baltimore snitch video was merely a warm-up for his obliteration of his own locker room.

It’s hard to write negatively about Carmelo Anthony.  The truth is my lifelong love of Syracuse basketball was cemented during his freshman year, my senior year, with his captivating march through the tournament.  He proved who he is as a person with his generous donation for the Melo Center.  There is considerably more positive than negative in Carmelo Anthony.  It’s not even close.  But that doesn’t mean he is immune to these low points.

Last night was his Scottie Pippen moment. Pippen once refused to play the final seconds of a playoff game because Phil Jackson wrote up a play that called for Toni Kucoc to take the final shot.  Pippen stayed on the bench, Kucoc drilled the game winner, and the moment followed Scottie no matter how many rings or honors he accumulated.  Some players just aren’t born to lead.  The jury remains out on Carmelo Anthony.