In Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut describes how beautiful the creation and dropping of bombs would be when played in reverse. The bombs sucked up fire and destruction and then were transported by a plane to a facility where scientists would deconstruct them and return their harmful elements to the ground, where they could never hurt anybody.
Now imagine how peaceful the last eight years of Carmelo Anthony's life would be if it were played in reverse. It would look as if Anthony would leave New York, where Amar'e Stoudemire was his only viably talented teammate and unrealistic expectations haunted him until the moment of his trade to Denver. In Denver, after a season where nobody knew what to expect from him, he would play for George Karl and progress in the playoffs, only to be thwarted by Kobe Bryant approaching his prime. Then, after a mostly successful run in Denver, Syracuse would jump at the opportunity to bring Anthony to one of the nation's top programs, where he would immediately win a national championship. And after a year at Syracuse, Anthony would be hailed as one of the country's top talents and head to Oak Hill Academy.
The new lifecycle of the NBA player is an exercise in trading happiness for fame. The exuberance of the breakout performance is quickly weighed down by the pressure to win a championship. Players grasp at the straws of playing in the biggest markets or with high-profile sidekicks, because staying in one place and never winning is a far worse fate. And pursuing fame often becomes a detour from pursuing championships. So it goes.
Today's NBA star is scored by the media. When Colin Cowherd says the San Antonio Spurs do not have a superstar because Tim Duncan is "boring," it speaks volumes about the values of today's league. If Michael Jordan loved winning because it confirmed his self-image and Isiah Thomas loved winning because it verified the love he had for his teammates, today's stars love winning because they lead "SportsCenter." Today's stars do not hate losing; they just hate being called a loser.
This is the generation that grew up valuing blocked shots not by whether they led to a score at the other end, but by how much the crowd reacted. They value relationships with AAU teammates and hangers on, because they know those bonds will last much longer than what they have with coaches and professional teammates.
Sadly, there's an empty pot at the end of the fame rainbow. Media and fans are fickle. They grow tired of individuals, successful or not, and demand new angles to stay interested. Stars who judge their growth in Twitter followers and Google news alerts should expect a wasteland of double standards and fleeting satisfaction.
As we will see in the coming years, stars that orchestrate their departures to their idealized destinations had better win. For starters, either the Heat or Knicks will not win the Eastern Conference. We know that at least one of those teams will go into each of the upcoming offseasons having to explain how they failed in spite of their collection of names. But what happens when the scapegoats are extinct?
Anthony is the latest in a line of stars haunted by the shadows of their own images. Just as Miami's presumably historic trio has been nothing more than a run-of-the-mill Eastern Conference contender, Anthony's New York experience is destined to mostly disappoint. The Knicks upgraded one roster spot at the expense of a handful of others. Are they better? Probably. But in reading most of the analysis, the Knicks won't finally be good until another big name, such as Chris Paul or Deron Williams, comes to the Big Apple. And then what?
So enjoy Anthony's honeymoon phase. Instead of seeing three guys combine to make 10-of-25 shots, Knick fans can enjoy one all-star counting for that production. But when the newness wears off and the wins do not pile as high as expected, let's not be surprised. Because in today's NBA, the dirtiest secret is that the stars' itineraries do not end at championship parades.
Winning is just a layover on the way to being famous.
Corrie Trouw is the founder of Pigskinology.com.
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