MORE on Carmelo Anthony...

Carmelo Anthony is a joke. Do a quick Twitter search. He shoots too much. He holds the ball for too long. He never wins. Knicks' fans know all this. You could hear their collective groan in Cleveland when he re-signed. Yet, as of writing this, he's the highest paid player in the league. Why?

Because he should be. Last year, Melo turned 30. He had a career high in minutes played for a bad Knicks team. He's largely injury free. He averaged 27 points and 8 rebounds. He shot over 40% from 3 point range and almost 85% from the stripe. And in a league full of stars that sit back and watch the other team score on defense, he had 1.2 steals and almost a block a game.

So what? Stats aren't everything, right? The guy's a bum, and you know it. New York won't win with him. Metric stats say Lebron is worth about 15 more wins a year than Melo. Oh, sorry, that was more stats. Why should you give him a chance?

While the money was no small factor, let's ask Melo why he stayed:

"This organization has supported me and in return, I want to stay and build here with this city and my team," he posted to his website. "In the end, I am a New York Knick at heart."

Tacky? Maybe. After the fact? Definitely. But, for a couple of minutes,  in a league where stars chase money and championships, can we agree to stop hating on Melo? At least until he holds the ball for fifteen seconds only to miss a jumper.

By:: Josh Henderson