Carmelo Anthony made history just days ago by capturing his third Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016, but according to Jim Boeheim that success won't follow him to the NBA.
"He's unlikely to win an NBA title," said the USA basketball assistant coach to Mike Waters of Syracuse.com. "He's never been on a team that even had a remote chance of winning an NBA title. As a player, all you can do is try to make your team better and every team he's been on he's made them a lot better. It's obvious. You look back on your total basketball experience and he had a great high school team, he won the NCAA championship and he's won three gold medals in the Olympics. That's a pretty good resume."
Boeheim has been associated with Anthony at the highest points of his career, serving as assistant coach on all three of the gold medal-winning teams and as his head coach at Syracuse. The legendary bench boss was quick to heap praise upon his former pupil's performance at Rio 2016.
"Carmelo was the unquestioned leader of the this team," Boeheim said. "I though he did a great job."
Anthony announced following the Olympics that he was retiring from USA Basketball, so he won't be around in four years at Tokyo 2020. Boeheim was non-committal about his future with the program, but raved about what a positive experience it was in Brazil.
"It was a great summer experience to be back with Carmelo," Boeheim said. "He's just such a great kid. He's not a kid anymore, but to me he is."
It appears Las Vegas oddsmakers agree with Boeheim's assertion that Anthony's New York Knicks are unlikely to win the NBA title. In their latest future odds, Bovada has the club listed at +6600 to capture the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
