The Puerto Rican national team wants Olympic Melo to come out of retirement
While Carmelo Anthony’s NBA prospects may be thinning in his old basketball age, now that his tenure with the Houston Rockets is all but up, there is still one team seriously wooing the 10-time All-Star.
The 34-year-old Brooklyn native has an open invitation from the Puerto Rican national team to play for his father’s home territory in upcoming international action, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“I’m a big fan of Carmelo not only as a basketball player, but more importantly as one of our Puerto Rican heroes,” Puerto Rican basketball federation president Yum Ramos told ESPN. “He and his foundation have done a lot for Puerto Rico. I think along with J.J. Barea, Carmelo could make a huge impact on the team and help lift the spirits of our country.”
Anthony would require a waiver from USA Basketball to play for Puerto Rico, but given all he’s done for Team USA, it’s hard to imagine that wouldn’t come easy. Anthony retired from Team USA following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games with three Olympic gold medals, one bronze and the U.S. national team’s all-time scoring crown. He earned USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year honors three times.
Along with Dallas Mavericks veteran and Puerto Rico captain J.J. Barea, Anthony has been one of the NBA’s most outspoken and active contributors to relief efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Maria. The hurricane left the national team without a practice court and almost devoid of funding.
“With his connection to Puerto Rico, his NBA stardom and his experiences, our fans would love it,” Barea told ESPN. “We tried a bunch to get him in the past, but of course nobody blamed him for playing for Team USA. But if he ever wants a chance to represent us, it would be awesome to have him.”
In its attempt to qualify for the 2018 FIBA World Cup, Puerto Rico next plays against Uruguay and Panama on Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, respectively. The team has not qualified for the Olympics since 2004.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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