ducks
12-04-2004, 02:42 PM
Anthony tells his side of DVD story
He is not a gangster or a thug.
He is a frustrated 20-year-old trying to withstand a barrage of bad publicity that seems to compound and confound on a weekly basis.
This, according to Carmelo Anthony.
For the umpteenth time in the past two months, the Denver Nuggets forward stood in front of a group of reporters Friday and offered his side of the story.
Not about miscues on the basketball court, but about missteps in life.
The latest explanation came after his appearance on an underground DVD that glamorizes drug dealers and includes a threat to murder informants who cooperate with police.
The footage was shot in September while Anthony was visiting the West Baltimore neighborhood where he was raised.
"The video happened right after the Olympics when I was home, so it's not like I'm doing something bad right now," he said.
"I've been trying to, excuse my language, bust my (rear) trying to make everybody happy, trying to do things right around here. It's bad timing right now. Everything happens back-to- back-to-back-to-back."
The DVD, which sells for $10, is "a hot item on the street," said Edward Marcinko, a spokesman with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Baltimore. Mar- cinko said his agency is not using it to identify possible drug dealers.
As for the Baltimore Police Department, public information officer Nicole Monroe said the footage has been reviewed by police and "nobody in the DVD did anything arrestable. Freedom of speech."
Anthony would love nothing more than to erase and re-record the two-month span from mid-August to mid-October.
He was depicted as a selfish player on the underachieving U.S. Olympics team in Athens. He was involved in a nightclub scuffle Sept. 13. He was cited for possession of marijuana (a misdemeanor charge later was dropped) Oct 15.
After the arrest last week of three men accused of trying to extort $3 million from Anthony in the wake of the nightclub incident, Anthony said he hoped the worst was behind him.
Now comes the DVD, which shows Anthony standing next to an alleged drug dealer.
"I don't hang with drug dealers, man," Anthony said. "I'm not stupid. I know who to surround myself with. I'll always surround myself with good people.
"Since the season started, I've been trying to do my best to try to make things right, try to prove to people that I'm not the type of person that everybody's portraying.
"I'm not a thug. I'm not a gangster. I'm a basketball player, but at the same time, I'm a gentleman. I do do good stuff. It just so happens this (DVD) came out. I thought I was taking steps forwards, but this put me two steps backwards."
On the DVD, Anthony laughs and says something inaudible when someone asks if he threw his Olympics medal in a lake. He reiterated Friday that the medal is safely stored at his mother's home in Baltimore.
As for the message the DVD sends to people who look up to him, Anthony compared the content to that found on MTV. The DVD includes music and dancing and shows men driving convertibles, smoking marijuana and flashing diamond watches, according to Associated Press.
"You watch music videos all day and you see that," Anthony said. "You could say the same thing if I was in a music video. I'm not really concerned, because it happened in the summertime."
Anthony and the Nuggets are not without their concerns in the present.
During a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, Anthony was visibly frustrated when coach Jeff Bzdelik removed him from the game midway through the third quarter.
Anthony repeatedly shook his head while sitting on the bench, and he stood away from the team huddle during timeouts.
"I can admit I was avoiding the huddle sometimes, but I was frustrated," he said. "Anybody in my position would be frustrated with times like that. All the stuff that's happened is a lot for one person to handle."
Asked specifically about Anthony's actions, Bzdelik spoke only in general terms.
"We have talked about professionalism many times and what professionalism means," he said. "If professionalism isn't exhibited, there's consequences."
Bzdelik said players must abide by team rules regarding professionalism, and he has issued fines this season.
It was not known if Anthony would be fined for his actions Thursday, but Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe sympathized with his young player, who missed 14 of 20 shots and committed five turnovers while playing on a sore right ankle.
"I have been in that situation where you're injured and you come out in a really big game and you try to play and just can't do it," Vandeweghe said. "In those situations, it's almost impossible not to show some frustration. He wouldn't be human if he didn't show some frustration."
Asked if he was concerned that a rift could develop between his coach and star player, Vande- weghe said, "Obviously, you hope that doesn't happen.
"You've got a coach who's very competitive, and players are very competitive. Are you always going to have perfectly calm seas? Of course not. You can tell a lot . . . about people how they come through those rough times."
Anthony, the current poster boy for rough times, said he believes he and Bzdelik are on the same page.
"It would be a lot of tension between him, me and other players and the whole organization if everybody wasn't on the same page," Anthony said. "So I hope everybody's on the same page."
At this point, Anthony certainly could use a happy ending.
He is not a gangster or a thug.
He is a frustrated 20-year-old trying to withstand a barrage of bad publicity that seems to compound and confound on a weekly basis.
This, according to Carmelo Anthony.
For the umpteenth time in the past two months, the Denver Nuggets forward stood in front of a group of reporters Friday and offered his side of the story.
Not about miscues on the basketball court, but about missteps in life.
The latest explanation came after his appearance on an underground DVD that glamorizes drug dealers and includes a threat to murder informants who cooperate with police.
The footage was shot in September while Anthony was visiting the West Baltimore neighborhood where he was raised.
"The video happened right after the Olympics when I was home, so it's not like I'm doing something bad right now," he said.
"I've been trying to, excuse my language, bust my (rear) trying to make everybody happy, trying to do things right around here. It's bad timing right now. Everything happens back-to- back-to-back-to-back."
The DVD, which sells for $10, is "a hot item on the street," said Edward Marcinko, a spokesman with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Baltimore. Mar- cinko said his agency is not using it to identify possible drug dealers.
As for the Baltimore Police Department, public information officer Nicole Monroe said the footage has been reviewed by police and "nobody in the DVD did anything arrestable. Freedom of speech."
Anthony would love nothing more than to erase and re-record the two-month span from mid-August to mid-October.
He was depicted as a selfish player on the underachieving U.S. Olympics team in Athens. He was involved in a nightclub scuffle Sept. 13. He was cited for possession of marijuana (a misdemeanor charge later was dropped) Oct 15.
After the arrest last week of three men accused of trying to extort $3 million from Anthony in the wake of the nightclub incident, Anthony said he hoped the worst was behind him.
Now comes the DVD, which shows Anthony standing next to an alleged drug dealer.
"I don't hang with drug dealers, man," Anthony said. "I'm not stupid. I know who to surround myself with. I'll always surround myself with good people.
"Since the season started, I've been trying to do my best to try to make things right, try to prove to people that I'm not the type of person that everybody's portraying.
"I'm not a thug. I'm not a gangster. I'm a basketball player, but at the same time, I'm a gentleman. I do do good stuff. It just so happens this (DVD) came out. I thought I was taking steps forwards, but this put me two steps backwards."
On the DVD, Anthony laughs and says something inaudible when someone asks if he threw his Olympics medal in a lake. He reiterated Friday that the medal is safely stored at his mother's home in Baltimore.
As for the message the DVD sends to people who look up to him, Anthony compared the content to that found on MTV. The DVD includes music and dancing and shows men driving convertibles, smoking marijuana and flashing diamond watches, according to Associated Press.
"You watch music videos all day and you see that," Anthony said. "You could say the same thing if I was in a music video. I'm not really concerned, because it happened in the summertime."
Anthony and the Nuggets are not without their concerns in the present.
During a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, Anthony was visibly frustrated when coach Jeff Bzdelik removed him from the game midway through the third quarter.
Anthony repeatedly shook his head while sitting on the bench, and he stood away from the team huddle during timeouts.
"I can admit I was avoiding the huddle sometimes, but I was frustrated," he said. "Anybody in my position would be frustrated with times like that. All the stuff that's happened is a lot for one person to handle."
Asked specifically about Anthony's actions, Bzdelik spoke only in general terms.
"We have talked about professionalism many times and what professionalism means," he said. "If professionalism isn't exhibited, there's consequences."
Bzdelik said players must abide by team rules regarding professionalism, and he has issued fines this season.
It was not known if Anthony would be fined for his actions Thursday, but Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe sympathized with his young player, who missed 14 of 20 shots and committed five turnovers while playing on a sore right ankle.
"I have been in that situation where you're injured and you come out in a really big game and you try to play and just can't do it," Vandeweghe said. "In those situations, it's almost impossible not to show some frustration. He wouldn't be human if he didn't show some frustration."
Asked if he was concerned that a rift could develop between his coach and star player, Vande- weghe said, "Obviously, you hope that doesn't happen.
"You've got a coach who's very competitive, and players are very competitive. Are you always going to have perfectly calm seas? Of course not. You can tell a lot . . . about people how they come through those rough times."
Anthony, the current poster boy for rough times, said he believes he and Bzdelik are on the same page.
"It would be a lot of tension between him, me and other players and the whole organization if everybody wasn't on the same page," Anthony said. "So I hope everybody's on the same page."
At this point, Anthony certainly could use a happy ending.