why wont this 80 million dollar NBA star admit he tokes up? anthony carmelo

I'd like to ask this gy sraaight up why he won't just come out and amit he smokes a little bud! hell it ain't no big deal! why can't more millionares just come out of the closet and back legaliaztion?

uly 12, 2006 · Last updated 7:45 p.m. PT

Carmelo signs with Nuggets for $80 million

By PAT GRAHAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

DENVER -- Carmelo Anthony committed to staying in his town a little longer than LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Anthony signed a five-year deal worth an estimated $80 million Wednesday at the Pepsi Center. The deal Anthony signed is longer by two years than those agreed to by fellow young stars James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Wade of the NBA champion Miami Heat.

Rather than choose the five-year extensions they were eligible for that would kick in starting with the 2007-08 season, James and Wade went for three-year deals with an option for a fourth - and the chance to become free agents sooner and potentially make even more money.

"It was a no-brainer for me," Anthony said. "When all the rumors were out there saying I was signing this type of deal or that type of deal, my family called me and said, 'Look, are you crazy?'" Growing up we don't have (much)."

Anthony has a clause in his contract, though, where he can terminate the deal after the fourth year.

"This is where I want to be," Anthony said. "The whole state has embraced me."


Anthony's agent, Calvin Andrews, said earlier in the day there was "some verbiage" in the contract that needed to be solved before he signed. After the deal was done, Andrews said the contract was precisely what Anthony was hoping for.

"How can I not be happy when my client signed a max deal?" Andrews said. "We were working on semantics. It wasn't a deal-breaking thing."

Denver director of player personnel Mark Warkentien said the deal went smoothly.

"There was a motivated seller and a motivated buyer," he said. "Piece of cake."

As the Nuggets solidified the future of their star forward, they lost swingman Greg Buckner to the Dallas Mavericks. Also, 7-foot center Francisco Elson signed an offer sheet with the San Antonio Spurs.

The Nuggets still have a chance to match the offer to Elson.

Hours before Anthony was expected to sign his contract extension, he had to defend his judgment for loaning his car to a friend who was pulled over and cited for marijuana possession.

Tyler Brandon Smith was stopped for traffic violations late Sunday and given a summons for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Police said Smith was driving a 2005 Dodge Magnum registered to Anthony's company, Melo Enterprises.

Anthony answered questions about the incident as kids from his basketball camp scurried through drills in the background.

"I cursed him out a little bit," Anthony said of his close friend. "He understands. He almost broke down apologizing."

The Nuggets looked into the situation involving Smith and were happy with what they uncovered.

"Everything factors in," Warkentien said. "It's an $80-million decision. The evaluation of him is a three-year study, not a 36-hour period.

"Melo's our guy."

This wasn't the first time Anthony has had a friend get him into hot water. In October 2004, a backpack that Anthony had on him before boarding a plane was searched and an ounce of marijuana was discovered. A friend of Anthony's said the drugs were his and apologized.

"The last time this happened, the guy was x-ed out of the picture; he's not even around anymore," Andrews said Wednesday afternoon. "We've got to sit down and map out a plan on how do we avoid these things.

"For the last two years (Anthony) has been a rock-solid citizen, unbelievable on the court, doing everything he needs to do.

"Now, he can't even sneeze the wrong way. It's ridiculous. He's on egg shells right now. A guy like him shouldn't have to be in that situation."

Anthony, 22, was all smiles at his evening press conference. Flanked by Warkentien on his right and team owner Stan Kroenke to his left, Anthony talked about how this was the right decision for him.

"My situation is different than other situations," he said. "I had to make sure my family is straight, make sure my kids, my grandkids, my great-great grandkids are straight. That's why I feel good about it."

The Nuggets have now invested $140 million in two players this offseason in Anthony and Nene, who's coming of an ACL tear. It's money that Kroenke feels is well spent.

"To have the talent at the level we'd like to have it, the way the system works you have to pay for it," Kroenke said.

Anthony was the third selection in the 2003 NBA draft. He's averaged 22.8 points for his career, including 26.5 points last season when he was chosen to the All-NBA third team. It was the first time a Denver player had been named to the team since Antonio McDyess in 1998-99.

"This is a great day," Warkentien said. "Three years ago, Denver chose Carmelo. Today, Carmelo chooses Denver.

"Can you ask for more of a commitment from a young star player who from day one says this is the place? You don't get many days like this."

If he admitts to smoking weed, he can get busted by the NBA. That means no more money, no more sneaker endorsements, no more Nike ads...He's playing it smart for his situation. Melo's still got a backseat to Lebron and D-Wade, anyways, so the only reason for him to come out is to boost his exposure!

he's got 80 million dollars, at least he can come out and say that he is all for the law making marijuana the lowest possible priority for the police!

the NBA wouldn't have any players if they really banned weed.


here's a huge list of marijuana friendlypeople...
http://www.nndb.com/lists/352/000083103/

"No, that's not my ounce in my backpack... that's my friend's..."
*cough* scapegoat *cough*

He could have all the money in the world, but until he retires from the NBA, he would have to be an idiot to come out saying he smokes, or even supports the legalization movement. The League is against that, obviously, and the penalties for violating them are tough.

I'm sure you remember Damon Stoudamire? He was busted a couple of times for smoking weed, and now that's all he's known for. And what's sad is how good of a player he was/is, but all people remember is that he likes to smoke weed and do other drugs. Sure he might be open about it now, but his media image is shot. And so will Carmelo's, who's probably 3X the star as Damon was.

yup even the greatest basketball player ever kareem abdul jabbar smokes weed!

I guess it would be bad for the prohibitionists if the information got out to the public that you CAN BE the greatest while smoking ganja

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Its a Plant

He could have all the money in the world, but until he retires from the NBA, he would have to be an idiot to come out saying he smokes, or even supports the legalization movement. The League is against that, obviously, and the penalties for violating them are tough.

I'm sure you remember Damon Stoudamire? He was busted a couple of times for smoking weed, and now that's all he's known for. And what's sad is how good of a player he was/is, but all people remember is that he likes to smoke weed and do other drugs. Sure he might be open about it now, but his media image is shot. And so will Carmelo's, who's probably 3X the star as Damon was.

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you'd have to be a complete moron to say you smoke weed in his situation lol no offence but im pretty sure only like 4% of the poeple on here would say that and thats a hell of alot more people than normally would admit it.....its just not something his fans need to know or anything

why the hell not? maraijuana is illegal and that is wrong, if he was a real man and true, he'd say something for sure!

I really resent the super rich who will not come out and say THE EMPORER WEARS NO CLOTHES!

does snoop dogg toke up or not?

its just a terrible move though lol its like coming to work everyday drunk...sure people will know you like drinking but your gonna make yourself look like a complete retard in the process

lmao that might not be the best comparison but w/e im baked as hell right now lol ok its a terrible comparison hahaha

Heh heh...the Nuggets. *sparks bowl*

see the reason he doesnt, is because he wants that 80 million, i dont care how PRO-marijuana you are if someone said hey keep quiet that you toke and we'll give you 80 mil, your gunna take it

no it is not like playing for the NBA while drunk!

it's just a little ganja, and if you've got 80 million dollars, that's enough even if they fired you

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Its a Plant

If he admitts to smoking weed, he can get busted by the NBA. That means no more money, no more sneaker endorsements, no more Nike ads...He's playing it smart for his situation. Melo's still got a backseat to Lebron and D-Wade, anyways, so the only reason for him to come out is to boost his exposure!

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Exactly, thats why he wont say it :p.

because it is easier to keep the lies about marijuana going, especially if his liveliehood depends upon it.

he better donate some of that money to NORML!

I wouldn't share any of my ganja or hash with him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by seattle420

does snoop dogg toke up or not?

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Snoop doesn't work for David Stern. The league has strict rules, and I might be going out on a limb here when I say this, but Melo would probably opt to play basketball over getting high and not making $80 million dollars.

He's a celebrity, yes, but not your typical Hollywood film star. He has to report to a boss, of a sort - his coach. Until he either retires or goes to play in the CFL (ahemm, Ricky Williams :)), then it's literally insane to come out supporting and even admitting to smoking weed.

he's an asshole in my book, a fraidy cat!

hes smart and not an addict

Seriously, take his situation as a special one, and then think about it.

Would you seriously give up $80 million dollars to feel better about yourself after admitting your toking ways to the world? In the long run, him not doing that isn't going to set back the movement any further.

Look what happened to ricky williams after they found out about his weed issues....thats enough reason why carmelo shouldnt own up

and quoting ricky williams...
"Marijuana is 10 times better for me than Paxil."

Ricky's reefer madness

Gwen Knapp sfgate.com

SF Aug 3, 2004--The comedy of Ricky Williams' retirement eludes Dolphins fans, but his explanations for leaving the NFL are undeniably funny. He liked smoking reefer while following Lenny Kravitz on tour and wanted to keep doing it without the hassles of answering to specimen collectors from the league office.

The candor, rarer than a streaker at Wimbledon, was worth a laugh all by itself.

As he walked away from pro football, Williams dropped the name of a cleansing agent he drank by the half-gallon before NFL drug tests. Given that Williams was facing suspension for his third positive marijuana test, this novel product endorsement fell a little short of Michael Jordan's "It's the shoes.'' Williams did rally, explaining that he had stopped taking precautions.

"I didn't quit football because I failed a drug test,'' Williams told the Miami Herald. "I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football.''

You have to admit that beats the stuffing out of "I didn't inhale.''

The clarification came as a substantial relief to the cleansing agent's manufacturers, who peddle their stuff to everyday workers facing an employer's drug test. If their check isn't already in the mail, it should be.

The NFL strongly denied that the product worked, countering a growing suspicion that the drug-testing system just might be a farce.

Of course, it is a joke, a long one. Williams' tale is only one of many punch lines.

The real comedy, though, doesn't lie in Williams' chemical end-around the tests. It's that marijuana is prohibited in the sports world at all. In Olympic competition, it shares space on the banned list with steroids.

If Williams had stayed in the NFL, he would have been penalized more severely than the four Raiders who last year tested positive for THG, the alleged designer steroid connected to the BALCO lab. They were fined three- seventeenths of their salaries. Williams would have been suspended for four games without pay.

No anti-doping crusade can succeed when its enforcers become preoccupied, even for a second, with hunting down the Doobie Brothers. Screening for pot is worse than a waste of time. It confuses the already murky issue of performance- enhancing drugs. Too many people believe that drug testing in sports exists only to support a facade of social respectability, to maintain an apple-pie, white picket-fence marketability.

In the case of pot, that's largely true. Its performance-enhancing value, if there is any, is offset by proven disadvantages. As a baffled fellow athlete so eloquently put it when a Canadian snowboarder faced disqualification for a positive marijuana test at the 1998 Olympics: "I thought it would make you want to sit on your butt and eat doughnuts.''

Years ago, an NFL assistant coach told me that management didn't particularly care if players took steroids because usage made the game faster and more exciting. Marijuana and cocaine were problems because they made players hard to control.

The league does have tougher penalties for performance enhancers than pot. Williams failed three tests before he faced a suspension. Steroid users are barred for four games after one bad test. (The THG gang benefited from using an unknown substance, which made a penalty tough to assess.)

But the question remains: Why test for pot in any sport? Most employers can screen only before they hire someone. What sets the football player or the javelin thrower apart?

Former steroid users have said that they smoked dope to counteract the effects of the steroids. It made them calmer and alleviated the pain of the excessive weightlifting that steroids facilitated. Williams, diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, told the Herald that pot helped him more than the prescription antidepressant he once took.

Yet no athlete has ever said that he saw smoking dope as a threshold to success. Performance-enhancing drugs, on the other hand, have been described as a prerequisite by former users. The choice to take them rarely seems like a choice at all. It's certainly no backstage party with Lenny Kravitz.

Williams said he retired for a number of reasons, and anyone who criticizes him for wanting out should be willing to take a hit from an All-Pro linebacker. The outrageous violence of the game is a turnoff for anyone who savors the idea of walking upright at 45.

More aggressive screening for steroids might make the game safer. Nature couldn't possibly have produced so many freakishly large men who run like locomotives. Trying to eliminate pot use won't change a thing. It's irrelevant damage control, and a joke that isn't all that funny.

Haha. Where'd you get that from? Probably some local Canadian newspaper since he's playing pigskin in Canada now b/c of all the trouble his love for reefer caused, like running him out of the NFL.

He basically had it made in the NFL before his pre-buddha days, then once he came out and supported it, he not only lost his job, his reputation went out the window with it. Reps mean a lot to athletes, and his took quite the beating.

Now look at him. He's playing for the Toronto Argonauts up in our friendly neighbors to the North. More likely than not, he's finished in the NFL. And why? Because he chose to come out. But besides that, I find him to be almost a foolish kind of bold and daring person, like openly supporting weed and then meditating and "finding himself" overseas.

More power to him if he finds what he "really wants to do," but I'm sure late at night, when no one's looking, after that last bong is cashed, he sits alone in his single-room apt. and sobs. Just bawls his eyes out. Because he coulda been livin' it up in at least a 2 bedroom duplex, in America, no less.

Haha. wow. Torched.

The thing I never liked about him was this:

If he wanted to quit football after only a few seasons into the league, why in the hell would he start to begin with? From what most of the public knows, he seemed to be introduced to weed, then just sorta "burnt out", as lame as it sounds. He became disinterested with football and more so on traveling East Asia and sipping tea with the Queen.

So really, weed might actually have caused a fucking Heisman-trophy winner to discover his..actual purpose in life? He was going VERY strong in college, and it just started to pour over into his professional career when...puffff. I dunno, but it's sure a hell of a waste of talent if he decides to teach yoga to homeless kids in Peru instead. But hey, that's just me speaking as a sportsfan. As an avid toker, I am happy for him.

are you a prohibitionist?

I don't suppose youve ever written any letters to your local paper advocating legalization...

you dont get the $80 mil for a 5-year contract up front. you get it over the 5 years. and usually contracts are backloaded so you get most of the money at the end. if he tests positive for banned substances, he can have his contract terminated and/or be suspended.

oh. I thought he got it all upfront with a cherry on top!

DUH!

Lol. I'm sure 'Melo was hoping for that, cherry included.

And how about all these other big deals being done around the league? Paul Pierce inks $54 million for 3 more non-productive years (for the Celtics at least) and Lebron goes BIG in Cleveland. I just think it's amazing that those guys make so much money. Gotta love America!

why?

Haha. Because it's entertaining to watch and almost downright dumbfounding that people make that much money for playing a sport professionally. Maybe I've got a light-hearted side or something, I don't know, but it's got to be the kid in me talking whenever it's about sports. I'm a fan. I drool at the money they make, naturally, and it only adds to the excitement, imo. They play their game at the highest level, and I will admit that I have fallen into the spectacle and glamour surrounding the game. :stoned:

I also meant that so many younger guys are getting the big contracts of late. Only an observation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Its a Plant

Haha. Because it's entertaining to watch and almost downright dumbfounding that people make that much money for playing a sport professionally. Maybe I've got a light-hearted side or something, I don't know, but it's got to be the kid in me talking whenever it's about sports. I'm a fan. I drool at the money they make, naturally, and it only adds to the excitement, imo. They play their game at the highest level, and I will admit that I have fallen into the spectacle and glamour surrounding the game. :stoned:

I also meant that so many younger guys are getting the big contracts of late. Only an observation.

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Okay, reading this today, not high as a kite, I realize what I should have just said was that I was being sarcastic when I said "Gotta love America!" I probably should have throw one of these guys after it, though. :rolleyes: