LOS ANGELES — For the 18th time in 22 NBA playoff games, Carmelo Anthony lost, as the Nuggets melted down in a 122-107 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers. At this point, nothing else counts in his pro career. All the money and baskets Melo has made cannot change the ugly rap against him.
Anthony has been cast as the NBA’s most beautiful loser.
On a Denver team guilty of no defense and less accountability, Anthony cursed Wednesday night when it was suggested he was again headed for playoff elimination, then called the Nuggets’ performance against Los Angeles so disappointing as to be “totally unacceptable.”
If the basketball world bows to Cleveland star LeBron James as its young king, then Anthony is a court jester who knows why he’s not taken seriously.
“Winning a playoff series would be big. Real big,” Anthony told me while he sat in a gym on a spring morning that would end in all-too- familiar frustration, with the Nuggets falling behind L.A. 2-0 in a best-of-seven series.
“I’ve tried for four years in the NBA, and I’m still trying to get out of the first round. I think doing it would help me overcome a lot, as far as what people say about me. Not that I worry about that. But winning a playoff series would take a load off me, take a load off my teammates, and it would take a load off my organization.”
Unfulfilled expectations weigh a ton on Anthony’s shoulders.
Sure, we remember Michael Jordan did not win a playoff series until he was 25 years old.
But, at age 23, Melo’s development as a leader and growth as a multi- faceted player has suffered because the Nuggets do not demand much of him.
Since a hollow threat to bench Anthony more than a year ago, coach George Karl has often appeared more concerned with remaining his star’s pal than acting as a mentor.
Doesn’t anybody on the Nuggets care enough to get in Melo’s face when he snoozes on defense or shows indifference to rebounding?
Prior to Game 2 against L.A., Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman met with Anthony and explained the intensity required to succeed in the postseason.
“The first thing that has to be learned by Melo is the absolute, 100 percent effort he needs to bring every game,” Chapman said. “When he’s really engaged, when he’s not just punching the clock defensively, I don’t know if there’s anybody better in the game than Melo. But he’s still growing as a player. He’s got to get to where that intensity is second nature. And it’s still not.”
A recent arrest for suspicion of drunken driving again brought into question Melo’s commitment.
Anthony hears the wicked whispers behind his back that cut like a knife. He pretends not to care.
But the criticism pains him.
Fair or not, the rap against Melo is he fails to lift the level of teammates’ play, in the way Kobe Bryant inspires the Lakers to reach higher or dive on the floor in pursuit of a championship ring.
“Nobody can say that I don’t make my teammates better. I don’t think anybody can say that. Anybody I’ve played with I’ve made better,” insisted Anthony, who has watched in dismay as teammates have lost their composure and drawn six technical fouls in two games against the Lakers.
“Now, if you judge me off not getting out of the first round, then you have every right to. But I always say nobody in their right mind would say that about me.”
What made Melo famous was winning the Final Four as a freshman for Syracuse. But does Anthony define himself first, last and always as a scorer in the NBA, because that’s what sells sneakers?
“Nobody ever heard me say that out of my mouth. That would be ignorant,” Anthony said.”When I say I love this game, it’s not just that I love scoring the basketball. I love all aspects of the game.”
Before Anthony can earn the love fans give Chauncey Billups in Detroit, there’s one big test for him to pass.
Melo must prove he can win when it really counts.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
