Carmelo Anthony would play in Olympics for free
Photo credit: Jed Jacobsohn, Getty Images | Carmelo Anthony #15 of the United States salutes as his countries National Anthem is played during the medal ceremony after defeating Spain 118-107 in the gold medal game during Day 16 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on August 24, 2008 in Beijing, China.
Galleries
U.S. men's basketball wins gold
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Carmelo Anthony is looking forward to a trip to the 2012 London Olympics whether he gets paid or not.
The Knicks forward was asked Friday for his thoughts on athletes getting paid to compete in the Olympics, but he was not about to fall into the same trap as Miami's Dwyane Wade.
"It's different for us over here," Anthony said. "I don't know. I've been dealing with the USA team since I was 16, and I haven't got paid yet. And it's been good to me."
Wade created controversy on Wednesday when he said athletes should be "compensated" for playing over the summer. He changed his stance the following day, however, releasing a statement that read: "I do not want to be paid to go to the Olympics."
Anthony said he hadn't heard about the fallout surrounding Wade's comments or the Miami guard's reversal in opinion.
"Everybody has their own opinion about it," Anthony said. "It don't matter to me. If I get a check or not, I'm still going to play. Because I want to play. This is bigger than anything. Especially this time around for us to go and try to redeem ourselves and get that gold once again. This is a big one."
Anthony and Wade were on the U.S. team that defeated Australia, 92-65, in the gold-medal game at the 2008 Beijing Games.
This year, the Summer Olympics begin July 27 and the men's basketball gold-medal game is scheduled for Aug. 12 -- about a month before NBA training camps start.
"And it's London," Anthony said with a smile. "Who don't want to go to London?"
Before backtracking, Wade told reporters the schedule demands for the Olympics are taxing.
"We play the whole summer," he said Wednesday. "I do think guys should be compensated, just like I think college players should be compensated as well. Unfortunately, it's not there.
"The biggest thing now is rest. So you go to the end of the season, [Team USA] training camp is two weeks later. You're giving up a lot to do it. It's something you want to do, but it's taxing on your body. You're not playing for the dollar. But it would be nice if you would get compensated."
