(Associated Press)
Syracuse, N.Y. — Former Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony is coming off a gold medal victory, is climbing the list of professional basketball's all-time leading scorers and has a competent team around him for the first time in years.
But the story of Anthony's offseason this year, perhaps more than anything else, is his evolution into a role leading discussions on issues of race and social justice in the United States, particularly among sports fans and athletes.
It's that role, more than any on-court achievement, that landed Anthony on the cover of ESPN The Magazine's NBA preseason preview, doing a question-and-answer session with reporter Howard Bryant that is headlined "The Truth According to Carmelo Anthony.