After World Cup failure, Carmelo Anthony explores possibility of superstars returning to Team USA

The men’s U.S. basketball team just lost three out of their last four contests in the 2023 World Cup this week, and for a second consecutive time, they’ve returned home without a FIBA medal. In a recent Talk Show hosted by the global federation, Carmelo Anthony was invited to share his views on the modern game alongside former stars Pau Gasol and Luis Scola.

Anthony is not only the second-highest scorer in Team USA Olympic history, he’s also the player with most trophies acquired from representing his nation. The 19-year NBA career athlete was hired as an ambassador for this past World Cup.

Carmelo shared his opinion over the United States’ performance in Manila, Philippines, saying it is defintely a failure for American basketball.

“It’s an upset. Let’s be quite frank, it’s an upset. We don’t want to sugarcoat it. When you have that gold standard, that’s what you’re reaching for. Anything other than that, it’s an upset,” said the three-time Olympic gold medalist.

Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) on Team USA’s loss: “It was an upset, there’s no need to sugarcoat it.” | via @romwelanzures pic.twitter.com/dR8GYcD9Ld

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) September 9, 2023

“I don’t want nobody to sugarcoat that the USA wasn’t an upset. You have to take your hat off to Germany and Serbia. They had really good games. Those are upsets. But that’s good for the sport. For FIBA, basketball, and fans, to let everybody know that the rest of the world is here to play,” he continued.

According to Melo, the whole world is catching up with the United States’s basketball, and they should stop believing they can win international tournaments purely based on talent.

“Everybody now has to think with a different approach to how to win the gold medal. Guys are getting better. The game is growing globally. At the end of the day, everybody can go out there and win a gold medal,” Carmelo explained.

The former All-Star went further and suggested that Team USA should consider bringing back their NBA superstars to these kinds of tournaments, as they must compete with the ‘cream of the crop’.

“I would love to send the cream of the crop out there every year to compete at the highest level. But we have to respect those guys that are here too. Those guys are professional players. You can’t send the powerhouses every time. If we talk about the development, we’re developing those guys to be able to compete around the world. We take our losses with our wins, and we move on,” Anthony assured.

Carmelo also believes that the U.S. players should base their mentality on the ‘fear of losing’, instead of thinking they are unbeatable

Just as Team USA got eliminated from the race for the FIBA trophy in back-to-back World Cup competitions, Carmelo explains why they should stop thinking they are unbeatable.

“I just want to clear out. I don’t think that, as American basketball players, we think that we can’t lose. The fear of losing is what drives us and keeps us going to want to win and feel so bad after the loss,” he said. “We do a great job as the USA Basketball organization in respecting the game. Those guys will come to play for that bronze medal, because they understand what it means. I don’t think those guys came to the World Cup thinking it will be a clear shot.”

Take a look at Melo’s presentation as one of the 2023 FIBA World Cup ambassadors in the video above.

“As far as the best guys, we have 450 NBA players. You don’t know the injuries or what guys are going through. I understand what it means to put that jersey on, but everybody has their own thing going on and their reasons why they decide to come or not,” Anthony concluded.