Carmelo Anthony Gets Real About Possible NBA Coaching Future

Ricardo Klein | Dec 2, 2024

Sep 8, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Former professional basketball player Carmelo Anthony attends a game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images / Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Life as a coach in the NBA is cutthroat. It's your fault when things go wrong, and you get none of the rewards when things go right. 

Life as a coach in the best league in the world isn't what it's all made out to be. It's one of the toughest jobs to do, which is why former NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony wants to steer clear of it, at least at the NBA level. 

In a recent episode of his podcast, 7 PM in Brooklyn, the former star forward didn't hesitate to say no to potentially one day, at least at the pro level. Melo gave a hard no to coaching at the NBA but was open to potentially coaching at the high school level if the opportunity was right. 

"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."

Many former players have turned coaches. Most of them who were stars in the NBA have not panned out to be good coaches. Those who were solid or mediocre players in the league turned out to be some of the best we've seen. 

If history were to repeat itself, Melo would fit the former, not the latter. Nonetheless, this doesn't mean that Anthony is a candidate for a job or will jump at the first opportunity that presents itself. 

When Anthony was in the prime of his career, he was viewed as a difficult player to coach. One of his former coaches, George Karl, who is never shy about sharing his opinion, made some remarks about Anthony as a player, calling him a "conundrum" back in 2016. 

"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.

Regardless, Anthony has grown a lot, and if he decides to be a coach or not, more power to him. 

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