Carmelo Anthony convinced to play in Rio by Jim Boeheim

NBA veteran Carmelo Anthony was reportedly convinced to play at the 2016 Rio Olympics by his former college coach, Jim Boeheim.

While Carmelo Anthony was a “one and done” when he played college ball, his coach and mentor, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, is still a major influence. Apparently, it was Boeheim, part of the Team USA coaching staff, who helped to convince Melo to play at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The NY Post reported that when Boeheim checked in with Melo ahead of the Team USA decision, his former championship player was “squarely on the fence.” However, Boeheim told Carmelo, “I told him how he’d be good for our team. We knew LeBron [James, and others] weren’t going to come. It would be great for our team to have you. … I said it would be good for you in my opinion, you’ll get a great experience playing basketball again.”

The current member of the New York Knicks is the only member of this Olympics roster besides Kevin Durant to have played for Team USA before. Melo is looking to add his fourth medal overall to his impressive resume, which already includes two golds and a bronze. The Knicks All-Star was quoted as saying his former coach “had some great points” in helping to sway his decision to return for Team USA.

So thanks to Boeheim, Anthony provides some much-needed veteran leadership along with Durant on a rather new Team USA roster. The duo brought a championship to Syracuse in 2003 and their bond continues. It goes to show just how strong an influence Boeheim has been in his former player’s life and how valuable he realizes Melo is to this team’s pursuit of gold in Rio.

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