Carmelo AnthonyWhen it comes to being a top player in the NBA, there is a need to have confidence and belief in yourself. There is often a cry that many of the best players in the game aer arrogant but can you really blame them for thinking like this? These players need to be at the top of their profession and any level of self-doubt could cripple them on the court. To be a winner at this stage, you need to be a fully focused winner and having a high level of confidence in yourself is going to be part of the make-up of a basketball player.

There is also the fact that the top players in the NBA have an army of fans telling them how great they are. If you took anyone from the street and started giving them praise and adulation of the highest level that sports stars receive every day, they would start to think that they are something special as well. There is no getting away from the fact that basketball players need to have a high level of self-belief to get on in the game and when they do, they will be provided with every positive comment and remark that is going.

Is the player underrated?

This is why the comments of Carmelo Anthony, the forward from the New York Knicks shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. The player, in an interview with ESPN, stated that he believes he is the most underrated player in the entire league! That is quite a comment because it means that Anthony is saying that he knows there are plenty of great players in the league but that he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. This is the sort of comment that can easily be misconstrued so it is probably important to quote the actual comment, which was;

I think I’m the most underrated superstar that’s out there but that doesn’t matter to me.

It seems as though Anthony is voicing this concern as he thinks that his lack of Championship winning credentials so far means that people are not taking on board his skill and talent. Some of the greatest players in the league haven’t won a Championship but there is no doubt that people look to players medals and triumphs to judge them. This is more down to the fact that to be a legend, you really need to perform well in the big games and at the highest level. All of the greats of basketball have had massive games, including Championship games, on the line when they pulled their team through to success. This is something that Anthony hasn’t delivered yet, and it appears to be bristling with him.

Anthony has been around the game for more than a decade

He also said;

I know what I’m capable of doing. I know the grind and the hard work I put in to this, I know how consistent I’ve been over my career. To do it day in and day out and night in and night out on a very consistent basis year in year out, I know what I can do and I know the work I’ve put in. So as far as caring about if I’m underrated as a superstar, and getting the respect I deserve, I don’t worry about that. In due time if everything goes well, I will get it.

When you take on board that Anthony was second only to Kevin Durant in the MVP rankings for last season, you could argue that plenty of people understand his value and worth. He has made the All-Star team 7 times but there are some doubts about his ability to grab games by the scruff of the neck and lead his team to victory. Those saying that Anthony falls just short of greatness will point to the fact that in 12 years of trying, he has only made it past the 2nd round of the play-offs once. This isn’t the sort of return that marks the player out as being a natural leader or class act.

Another issue for Anthony is that he burst on the scene around the same time as LeBron James, and this has led to comparisons being made throughout his career. When you think of what James has achieved, it is easy to be slightly dismissive of what Anthony has achieved, even though 99% of the population would love to be in his shoes.