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Double Play: Williams becoming a doctor, Melo one of the NBA’s best

By Michael Pare

Posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009, 1:14 am

Dr. Ricky Williams?

In case anyone had forgotten in the wake of Ricky Williams’ return to a normal life (at least publicly) over the past couple of years, he has reminded us again that he is in fact out of his mind. Recently Williams made it known that he has some very ambitious plans for his post-football career, which could be coming very soon. The Miami Dolphins running back plans to retire after the 2010 season and practice Holistic medicine as an osteopathic physician. That’s right: Ricky Williams, the pot-smoking crazy who quit football in 2004 to grow out a scraggly, hermit beard and live in a tent community in Australia wants to be a doctor. To that end, he has been taking pre-med night classes at Nova Southeastern University, focusing on pre-algebra and English, and practicing massage therapy in his spare time.

OK, not to be cynical, but I see three immediate problems. First, if Ricky Williams is taking pre-algebra at the age of 32 and plans to be a practicing physician of any sort, he is in big trouble. I took pre-algebra in 8th grade. He has five more years of schooling ahead of him before he is capable of doing math at a college level. Second, during his four years at the University of Texas, he completed only five semesters of college. Even if he retired and enrolled full-time in college right now, at his rate of credit hour accumulation it would take him three and a half years to complete his undergrad and then another seven to finish medical school. This is all assuming he does not lose his mind again and go picnicking with the bush people of Africa. Finally, if Mr. Williams thinks that he is furthering his medical career by practicing amateur massage therapy, he has another thing coming. That would be like me saying I want to be an accountant after I am done being a journalist because I have been playing a lot of Monopoly. Williams told Dan Patrick in a Sports Illustrated interview that if he calls him in 10 years, he will be speaking to a doctor. If that turns out to be the case, I tip my hat to the man, but I think it is more likely Williams will be wearing a straight jacket than a lab coat in 2019.

Melo changing for the better

There are a lot of athletes blessed with so much talent that they can be successful by just going through the motions. They are so good that they are hampered by complacency and surpassed by less talented, more driven players. Michael Vick has been the poster child of this syndrome for the NFL, and until now Carmelo Anthony has been for the NBA. Before Vick decided the real money was in underground, domesticated animal fights, he was a guy with all the physical tools, but none of the mental presence required to take him from being a good player to a transcendent player. A wise, frothing-mouthed lineman from “The Little Giants” once said football is 80 percent physical and 40 percent mental. While his math may be questionable, his suggestion is sound. With all the physical tools in place, 40 percent is what separates benchwarmers from starters, starters from all-stars, and all-stars from MVPs — in any sport.

Carmelo Anthony had that first 80 percent all along, but the other 40 hadn’t arrived until this year. Nicknamed “Melo,” he has a reputation for complacency since he entered the league. He has struggled to remain in shape, he has been plagued by carelessness off the court and on defense Carmelo has been a marshmallow, but there has been nothing fluffy or soft about the way the he has started the 2009-2010 season. In his first two games, Anthony has tallied 71 points in 81 minutes of utterly dominant play. When the other teams were lumbering around the court with their legs barely beneath them late in the second half, Anthony was flying around the court like a man possessed, single-handedly propelling his team to victories in the fourth quarter. In perhaps the most iconic play of the young season, after he missed a 3-pointer, Anthony pounced like a lurking defensive back on an outlet pass from Paul Millsap, took one dribble, and dunked over the Utah Jazz forward like he was not even there. An invigorated Anthony then marched across the baseline pounding his chest, yelling “I’m back! I’m back!” The last time Melo was “back” might have been in his one year at Syracuse University. While there, coach Jim Boeheim described him as “by far, the best player in college basketball. [And] It wasn’t even close.” If Melo really has put it all together, then George Karl might be saying the same thing about professional basketball at the end of the year.