Carmelo Anthony extending career by getting leaner, says trainer

Carmelo Anthony inked a max contract to stay with the New York Knicks this offseason and he then promptly lost a ton of weight and got much leaner physically.

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There may be many reasons for Melo to shed the weight he did, but while health is an obvious choice there seems to be a far greater and better reason for the recent physical change that the New York Knicks star underwent.

According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, Melo’s trainer firmly believes that the leaner the All-Star forward gets, the longer his career will be as less stress will be put on his legs and knees over the course of time.

"“In anything, you get older, and getting leaner and lighter helps with the longevity of your career,” Anthony’s trainer, Idan Ravin, told ESPNNewYork.com in a phone conversation Thursday afternoon.“He’s played a lot of years,” Ravin added. “He puts a lot of mileage on his legs, so the leaner and lighter you are, obviously the better.”"

It’s a fair assessment of the situation and it makes a lot of sense. It’s hard to believe it but guys like Melo, LeBron and others have been in the league over a decade at this point and aren’t getting any younger. With the previous generation of players getting on into their 30s, longevity is going to be key which is why we’re seeing so many guys like Melo and LeBron get leaner in an effort to keep up with the times.

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