Carmelo Anthony, the elder statesman of the U.S. men’s basketball team, says it’s time to “move on” from the reports that three members of the team were caught visiting a local house of prostitution in Rio during the earliest days of the 2016 Summer Games.
Gossip website TMZ reported on August 5 that at least three members of the U.S. basketball team were caught walking into a legal brothel in the Olympics host city. DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins, DeMar Derozan, and maybe 3 other players were seen entering a “high end brothel” in Rio on Wednesday evening on their day off from competing.
The players said it was all a mistake, insisting they were only looking for a health spa in which to unwind.
Whatever happened, the story stirred a firestorm of media attention. Now Carmelo Anthony is saying it’s time to “move on” from the story and get back to playing basketball.
Anthony, a long-time New York Knicks player who is hoping to land his third gold medal in Rio, told the media that the team accepts responsibility, but it’s time to focus on the games.
“What’s done is done. We have time off and guys did what they did. We accept those responsibilities and move on,” Anthony said on Sunday.
So far, Anthony is the only player to fully address the reports of the brothel visit. Even U.S. Men’s Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has stayed mum on the matter.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.