Carmelo Anthony on why he wouldn't be an NBA coach: "No big-time player has gotten back on the sideline and was successful as a coach"

carmelo-anthony

It is not uncommon for former NBA players to become coaches in retirement. After all, the hands-on experience they gained as players should give them a unique insight into the game.

The truth is, not every star player can become the best head coach, as is the case with retired superstar Carmelo Anthony, at least according to him.

In a recent episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, Melo didn't hesitate to say no to potentially coaching one day. At points in his career, the superstar forward was seen as 'hard to coach,' but does this sentiment perhaps draw parallels to why he's against coaching?

"That is exactly why I can't be a coach," Anthony said. "I think I would coach high school. I gotta have my own situation, like a 'Oak Hill' type of situation… you know, like a situation where I can control everything. [...] It ain't ever work for nobody like myself. Magic [Johnson], it ain't (expletive) work. No player has, you know, like no big-time player has gotten back on the sideline and was successful as a coach… we operating at a different level."

"I don't think a lot of players translate into coaching," he continued. "If you a big-time player, you got ego, you got pride, right? You know it all; you know everything. The minute someone try to try you, you turn back into that competitor."

While there have been Hall of Fame players who made a relatively successful transition to coaching, Anthony does have a point about wanting 'control' and everything at your fingertips, especially as a former NBA superstar.

Carmelo was the cream of the crop at one point in his career. There's a reason why he said "maybe high school" in his statement. That's the only level at which you have a complete say in everything that goes on.

Was Melo hard to coach?

Although Anthony won a scoring title in 2013 and was seen as one of the most gifted midrange scorers of all time, he had the 'hard to coach' narrative follow him at various spots in his career. Melo was a poised guy from the outside, rarely engaging in verbal combat and rarely getting into a shouting match with teammates or coaches.

But in 2016, his former coach in Denver put Anthony on blast. George Karl coached Anthony for the earlier part of his career, but he apparently viewed No. 15 as a "conundrum"

"He had no commitment to the hard, dirty work of stopping the other guy. My ideal — probably every coach's ideal — is when your best player is also your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn't lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude," George said.

In fairness to Melo, Karl was the only coach who called him to the mat for being difficult to coach, although the superstar bucket-getter was viewed as someone with a big ego. But hey, which premier superstar doesn't have an ego?

Having that superstar pride is what makes many players great. Sure, Melo was never too interested in playing defense, which you can argue hurt his chances of winning a title. But that still doesn't take away from the elite talent he was.

Which players have succeeded as coaches?

Anthony's point about Magic Johnson failing as a coach was factual. The NBA legend wasn't a great coach at all. He wasn't even a great executive, as evidenced by his embarrassing departure from the Los Angeles Lakers front office in 2019.

Unlike the legendary Lakers point guard, ex-players like Ty Lue, Steve Kerr, Doc Rivers, and Jason Kidd (among others) have gone on to become good-to-great coaches. But Melo is right: Top-of-the-line hoopers rarely turn into the top-of-the-line coaches. While Lue is seen by many as the best coach in the NBA, he was an average (at best) NBA player. The same goes with Steve Kerr.

The former Syracuse superstar may not ever begin his coaching career, but Melo was elite as they came as a player. Top 10 in scoring in NBA history, a New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets legend — Melo's legacy speaks for itself.