NBA Rumors Round-Up
NBA Rumors: Carmelo Playing in Fourth Olympics?
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated16 Oct 2023
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Anthony said he would like to play in his fourth and final Olympics in 2016 in Brazil but acknowledges it’s a long way away. He said Paul George’s devastating foot injury over the summer in a Team USA exhibition game won’t impact his decision.
Several days ago, LeBron James said that he was “nowhere near” ready to make a decision about playing in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. After all, it is a long time from now and a lot can change between now and then.
However, Carmelo Anthony was asked the same question recently and he gave a very different answer. While Anthony did point out that 2016 is far down the road, he did reportedly say that he wants to suit up for Team USA in 2016.
This would be Anthony’s fourth Olympics, after he won a gold medals in 2012 and 2008 and a bronze medal in 2004. He has also represented the U.S. in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and 2007 FIBA Americas Championship.
Anthony played an important role for Team USA during these last Olympics, averaging 16.3 points per game off of the bench. Despite his reserve role, he was Team USA’s second-leading scorer and finished with the seventh-best scoring average in the tournament.
Anthony would be 32 years old during the 2016 Olympics.
As his NBA playing career hinged on uncertainty, former Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers offered Marquis Daniels advice he is pursuing three years later. After suffering a terrifying injury mid-game in 2011 due to spinal stenosis, Rivers made a suggestion for Daniels’ future during his rehab process.
“He said, ‘If you don’t come back and play, you could come back and be a good coach,’” said Daniels. “It kind of stuck with me.”
On Sunday, he visited his old stomping grounds at the Celtics’ training facility to explore a new career on the sidelines. The 10-year veteran has already made stops with the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs.
“I always had a knack for it,” Daniels said. “(I) just wanted to be involved with trying to develop stuff, Xs and Os, just seeing how it goes. I’ve been getting a lot of advice from different coaches, just going around getting a feel for it.”
Daniels, who is 33 years old, has been coaching at some high schools in Georgia and stopping by a number of NBA training camps as he tries to gain experience.
As Camerato reports, he interviewed for an Austin Toros’ assistant coaching job this summer but and is hoping to eventually coach in the NBA. Now, he’s considering his options at all levels as he tries to build his resume.
In addition to getting Doc Rivers’ stamp of approval, a number of Daniels’ former teammates have said that he would make a good coach including Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass.
This is an excellent read and it’s worth taking a look at the whole article.
“I love Mike, but we’re moving on,” Riley said. “When [LeBron James] left, we just cleaned the table. It’s time to move on. It really had nothing to do with anything but we’re just moving in another direction, in another way, and it was nothing punitive, there was nothing bad.
“I wish him nothing but the best. But we decided, in the long run, Josh McRoberts and Shawne [Williams], Chris [Bosh], Chris Andersen, Udonis [Haslem] and the guys we had there. I didn’t want him to be put in the position of not playing, maybe.”
Miami opted not to re-sign Beasley this offseason when he was an unrestricted free agent, and the 25-year-old ultimately ended up signing a non-guaranteed deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The No. 2 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft didn’t play as much as he had hoped with the HEAT last season, averaging just 7.9 points in 15.1 minutes per game. During the postseason, Beasley fell out of Miami’s rotation. Riley says that he believed this would’ve happened again had Beasley been re-signed, which is why it was best for both sides to move on.
Beasley did show some positive signs throughout the 2013-14 campaign. He accepted his limited role with maturity and shot a career-high 49.9 percent from the field.
Off-court issues have hurt Beasley throughout his career, but he has shown that he can be productive. He was a double-digit scorer in the first five years of his NBA career, and he averaged 19.2 points during the 2010-11 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
