Carmelo Anthony Paying No Attention to Negativity

Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony caused a stir around the NBA after winning Player of the Week, with observers offering up players that they believed should’ve won the award instead, like Luka Doncic or James Harden. Anthony told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he isn’t concerned with the negativity after the award was announced:

“I’ve seen the chatter, but I won’t allow myself to pay attention to that because I’ve come too far to start listening to that bull----, to be honest with you,” Anthony told Yahoo Sports. “I won’t allow that negativity to creep in. I’ve worked so hard to get to that point mentally and emotionally. I won’t even let it happen.”

Anthony is happy to be recognized after spending more than a calendar year away from the game, and he showed his respect to other potential winners:

“I’m very honored to have won the award,” Anthony told Yahoo Sports. “It just speaks to the hard work I put in to stay ready for this moment. I have nothing but respect for [Harden and Doncic]. I didn’t make the decision, but I’m grateful that I won the award.”

Melo averaged 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in the week that he was honored for, with the Blazers going 3-0 over that stretch.