With three recent picks in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks are a franchise building for the future. Therefore, they can afford to wait on the future. Remember that. But also keep in mind how the future waits on no man, not even one of the greatest isolation artists this century.
Carmelo Anthony’s career scoring average in the NBA is 24.1 per game. Last season, as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder he averaged 16.2 per game. He is on the decline, but his time with the Hawks will not impact these numbers. The red and yellow record books will not need rewriting, and Carmelo’s legacy will not need to sustain what is sure to be a long rebuilding process. Instead, the intangibles he brought to Atlanta every day he was with the team will now be free to join a possible contender after years of not being in the limelight.
Atlanta will pay Anthony $27.9 million dollars for the 2018-19 season to be in any uniform but theirs. Once he clears waivers, he is expected to sign the veteran’s-minimum with the Houston Rockets for $2.4 million. When the Rockets play the Hawks, some of his former teammates may need reminding of just who he was and what he meant to the franchise.
When asked about how the team might deal with Anthony’s sudden departure, rookie guard Trae Young responded, “Didn’t he used to play for New York?”
Someone standing nearby added, “And Dallas. Don’t forget Dallas.”
Some player attributes are difficult to describe and do not register in the box score. Anthony’s contributions to Atlanta are difficult to surmise even after one mines the mountains of data available for judging the modern NBA player. Still, the game of basketball has never just been about numbers, but connections and relationships.
“No, I wouldn’t say my reason for signing with Atlanta was to reunite with ‘Melo,” said Jeremy Lin. “No, it’s nothing controversial or anything. I just didn’t know he was on the team.”
A great way to be the proverbial glue guy in the NBA is to be felt, but not seen. Such a state of being can also be difficult when it comes time to say goodbye. No one at Phillips Arena could find Carmelo Anthony after the official announcement. Some said they couldn’t find him even before that, but that’s just ‘Melo being ‘Melo and hiding from the spotlight. Remember that when the Atlanta Hawks play this year. Then recollect on how just because some sacrifices are difficult to describe that doesn’t mean they don’t demand a hefty price.
To be a Hawk for one day is to fly for a lifetime. Remember that.
“I may have played a pickup game with him or maybe it was Y2K,” said one of the longest tenured Hawks, Kent Bazemore, “so thinking of him as a former teammate just doesn’t make sense.”
Change is inevitable. Memories are forever. Remember that.
As the following tweet demonstrates, Anthony’s Atlanta legacy is in sure hands, not just on the court, but in the hearts and minds of those buying tickets:
Thanks for all the memories, 'Melo. Atlanta will never forget you.
— Graydon Gordian (@MrGordian) July 30, 2018
Not since the days of Rasheed Wallace has the Atlanta franchise owed so much and so little to a single player. If not a tribute video, he at least deserves a moment of silence when he’s back in town; something he can mime a jab step to as he passes before the fans for a first time.
[Ed. Note — Some of the quotes in this piece were created for dramatic effect. Drama, drama, drama.]