Melo: Winning 3 gold medals would make 'a great career'
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The process and logic behind ranking the all-time greats can be fairly reductive.
Many subscribe to the "count the rings" argument, and by that measure, Carmelo Anthony doesn't stack up to his peers. He has no titles and has only been to the conference finals once in his career.
But there's a bit more nuance as to what makes a player great, and in Anthony's eyes, becoming the first American-born man to win three Olympic gold medals would be quite an accomplishment.
"Most athletes don't have an opportunity to say that they won a gold medal, better yet three gold medals," Anthony told ESPN's Marc Stein. "I would be very happy walking away from the game knowing that I've given the game everything I have (and) knowing I played on a high level at every level: High school, college, won in college and possibly three gold medals.
"I can look back on it when my career is over - if I don't have an NBA championship ring - and say I had a great career."
Anthony, nearing his mid-thirties, doesn't figure to contend for NBA championships anytime soon given he signed long term with the lowly New York Knicks.
But he's won at every other level.
As a freshman, Anthony led Syracuse to their only NCAA championship in 2003. Prior to that, he won titles in high school with basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy. And if he were to lead the heavily favored Americans to victory in Rio 2016, Anthony would have three gold medals around his neck too, while also going down as America's all-time leading scorer.
That's not even factoring Anthony's NBA accomplishments. He's a nine-time All-Star, earned six All-NBA nods, was a scoring champion in 2013, and will soon crack the top-30 in all-time scoring.
Anthony has also become the face of social activism in the NBA as he's leveraged his fame into affecting change.
Winning an NBA championship is important, and it's a glaring omission on Anthony's resume, but greatness extends farther than rings.