MELO ON EXHIBIT

My legendary Melo has been a busy little bee lately. Aside from his stint with the Men’s Olympic hoops team, the mouthwatering Melter has finally officially launched his Carmelo Anthony Foundation…yes, Carmelo Anthony does care…and no, I don’t wanna hear from you Melo-bashers either. It’s my blog and until he causes a riot by making it rain in a Vegas strip club, assaults a woman, punches a child or steals a half-pound of weed for his posse, he’s still a good guy on my book…

And he must be doing something right…otherwise, its hard to imagine why he would be the first NBA player to earn a spot at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards. The (gulp) Carmelo Anthony Exhibit includes, among other things; a plaque for being named a Naismith high school All-American, a ball signed by his teammates on the 2003 Syracuse NCAA championship team, another signed by teammates at the 2006 World Championships and last year’s Olympic qualifying tournament, his ring from this past season’s NBA All-Star Game, and the 2006 Sports Illustrated cover he shared with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and his lips. “There’s a lot of history in the Baltimore community in sports,” said Melo, “and I’m glad I’m part of it.” The museum is a 22,000 square-foot shrine to Baltimore and Maryland sports…and I’m sure you know by now that Melo hails from Baltimore?

Last week, for the fourth consecutive year, Carmelo Anthony took over Cloverdale Park for his H.O.O.D. (Holding Our Own Destiny) Movement, where more than a thousand lucky local families and several A-list buddies such as T.I. and Sam Cassell joined him. “It’s always good to give back. This is my home, this is my city … I can never forget where I came from.” The sexy All-Star forward said his desire to give back to the community stemmed from the lack of positive role models he had as a child. “Growing up, I didn’t have anybody to do this for me,” he said. “It was guys on the corner I had to look up to.” But now, Melo is the one kids are looking up to, and it’s a beautiful thing…and once again, before you email me some crap about Melo being selfish or whatnot…think again- Carmelo isnt just an on-court beast, his philanthropic efforts to improve not just the communities, but the way of life for disadvantaged children landed him (8th) on the Giving Back Fund’s list of 30 celebrity philanthropists in America for their “The Giving Back 30” report. He was the only basketball player named, and was listed alongside Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods for making charitable donations in excess of $4 million for projects in Baltimore, Maryland and Syracuse, New York…With all this said, I have Carmelo on my radar as I hit up Chris Webbers Bada Bling this weekend in Vegas…if the gods are smiling upon Delinda, she will get her long-overdue hug from Melo for giving him so much love over the years-and heads-up LaLa, loosen the leash girl, I ain’t after your man, you got the baby- the least I can get is a quote, no?

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As always, thanks for reading. Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com