Athletes have little control over media narratives surrounding them. Carmelo Anthony was on the receiving end of a particularly negative narrative in the early parts of his career. Although he was getting better every year, his skills were only acknowledged once he faced the Miami Heat with LeBron James.

While his offensive skills were always given praise, people often pointed out that Carmelo was not that good on the defensive end. Although he stayed consistently above the league average, it was only once he held his own against LeBron James that the narrative about him started to change.

Facing LeBron James helped Melo’s case

Carmelo Anthony recently released his first episode of the podcast 7 PM in Brooklyn with The Kid Mero. During their conversation, Melo talked about the impact of the narratives brought on by the media on players. Carmelo believes that the media often dictates how a player is perceived based on the narrative they bring out in their shows.

One of the knocks against Carmelo early in his career was that he was not fully dedicated to playing defense on the court. Although he was not the best defender in the game, Melo was still above average and getting better every year. According to Melo, the media would usually wait until they witnessed an important moment to acknowledge that the player could do something.

Carmelo said, “Even if you doing it, Even if you proving that narrative wrong, they gon wait to give you that credit to a certain moment. So that moment was we gon give him the credit that he plays D against LeBron.”

Melo was already doing well defensively. But people and the media only started talking about it once he did that against LeBron James. Interestingly enough, LBJ and Melo are great friends and is King James is even credited with saving Carmelo Anthony’s life.

Carmelo Anthony almost met his end

The friendship between LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade is very well documented. They are so close that they sometimes even spend their vacations together. But Anthony and Wade once revealed how LeBron saved Carmelo’s life.

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During one of those vacations, they went to the Bahamas. As Carmelo Anthony was snorkeling, he suddenly noticed that he was being pulled away from the boat they were on to the middle of the ocean by the currents.

As Dwyane Wade was left watching what was happening while Carmelo Anthony called for help, LeBron jumped in the water in a heroic attempt to save his friend. LeBron caught Carmelo and swam back to the boat while holding Carmelo in one hand. Carmelo said while telling the story, “He saved my life. Yo, Bron, I appreciate that. You saved my life that day.”

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What do you think of the friendship between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!