Carmelo gets second golden opportunity

June 16, 2008

Carmelo Anthony is again heading to the Olympics, the Rocky Mountain News reported.

Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball managing director, told the newspaper that the Denver Nuggets forward will be among 12 players selected this month to play in Beijing.

"Yes, he will be," Colangelo said of Anthony, a Baltimore native who played sparingly in the 2004 Olympics.

Colangelo, who told the Rocky Mountain News in December that Anthony, a former Towson Catholic star, was all but a lock for Beijing, is hoping the Anthony in the Olympics will be the same one who has been perhaps Team USA's top player the past two summers.

"In the last year, I thought he took a half-step back," Colangelo said. "I have no idea why, but obviously, I've read the reports about how he might be traded and about some of the little things that have gone on. But there's a lot of stuff I'm not [privy] to.

"But we need to establish Carmelo as the same guy that we had the last two summers. I want to put his last NBA season behind him."

Anthony's scoring average last season dropped from 28.9 points to 25.7. In April, Anthony was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, but Colangelo said he knows Anthony realizes he made a "mistake."

Colangelo wants to talk soon with Anthony, who will be in Las Vegas for a June 27-28 minicamp involving the 12 players selected.

"We need him to be totally focused this summer," Colangelo said of Anthony, Team USA's leading scorer in the 2006 World Championships and the Olympic qualifying tournament last summer.

Said Anthony through a Nuggets official: "I don't feel like I took a half-step back on the court; maybe off the court. I'm very excited about representing my country, my team, my family and my fans in this year's Olympics. I [have] been waiting on this opportunity for four years. Mr. Colangelo, you have nothing to be worried about because I'm ready."

Colangelo said the team most likely will be announced early next week.

Four point guards (the Detroit Pistons' Chauncey Billups, New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul, New Jersey Nets' Jason Kidd and Utah Jazz's Deron Williams) are vying for three likely spots.

• SuperSonics // One of the most anticipated trials in Seattle history is set to begin today. The six-day, no-jury trial in federal court will settle the final two years of the team's lease at Key Arena. Sonics owner Clay Bennett has gained the NBA's approval to move the team to his hometown of Oklahoma City, but Seattle argues its lease forces the franchise to play two more seasons before departing.

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Carmelo gets second golden opportunity

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