Carmelo Anthony Knows How to Give Back

by Nate Jones
Although Carmelo Anthony has taken unwarranted P.R. hits throughout his time in the league, I'm here to tell you that the Carmelo Anthony is a good kid. Yes he's from inner city Baltimore. Yes, he has tattoos, cornrows, and a little bravado. But Carmelo is proving why many of us have to learn how to stop judging a book by its cover.

Today, a list was released by The Giving Back Fund announcing the largest public donations by celebrities in 2006. Mr. Anthony was 8th on the list, giving around $4.2 million to various organizations (most notably, his Carmelo Anthony Youth Center in Baltimore). The most glaring thing about the list is that Carmelo isn't even as close to as rich as some of the other people on the list. People such as David Geffen, Angelina Jolie, Elizabeth Taylor, George Steinbrenner, Paul McCartney and Nick Cage are obviously better off financially than Melo is. Yeah, he has an extension with the Nuggets kicking in and a nice Nike deal, but he's not a team owner, a media mogul, a $30 million per picture actor, or a member of the Fab Four.

Melo's fortune pales in comparison to some of those individuals. But yet despite his generosity, he's vilified every time he makes a mistake. Okay, so he got into a fight this year. But I feel like a lot of the individuals that were critical of him during that time were the same people that were cheering on guys like Laimbeer and Bird for fighting in the 80s. They were called tough, while Melo is called a thug. As well, I'm pretty sure that the people that have been overly critical of Melo haven't contributed to society in the positive way that he has. On top of that, why would anyone want to knock Melo? He's come into the league and improved his game each and every year he's been in the league and he's contributing to society off the court through his philanthropic endeavors. What more do you want from a soon to be 23 year old kid from inner city Baltimore? I don't think most 23 year old millionaires would be quick to shell out over $4 million of their own money to charitable organizations. As well, I don't think a lot of us would want to have what we were doing at 23 years old displayed in a public forum. I'd say Carmelo is doing very well for himself.