Watch: Carmelo Anthony Says NCAA, Amateur Sports Have Been Corrupt For So Long
Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Carmelo Anthony met with reporters on Tuesday afternoon to discuss whether athletes should get paid in college sports as well as the ongoing corruption scandal in NCAA basketball.
Anthony took a second to process the question from a reporter before advocating in favor of the players.
Here's what Anthony said, according to a video shared by Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript & CNHI Oklahoma.
"It's easy for me to say I think the players should get paid. The players should get paid. How they get paid? I think that's something to be figured out. I think it will only get figured out if the NCAA wants to figure it out. If they don't want to figure it out, then I don't think it'll get figured out. Then we'll continue to have these issues and having these problems. College basketball will continue to go down. Guys are not going to go to college. It's going to force the NBA to step up and kind of take the age limit rule out. I think it's got to be a collective effort between the NCAA, the NBA – just basketball as a whole. NCAA and amateur sports have been corrupt for so long. We all know that. Whether you get caught doing it or not, it is what it is. That's beside the point. College basketball players – college athletes period – should be compensated. You got to think about a 16-year-old kid [or] a 17-year-old-kid going to college. Yeah, they get a free education if they get a scholarship but how are they surviving on those campuses. A lot of them can't afford food. They get in trouble for taking $10 or $20. A friend or a family member can't give them money. There's so many small things that go with that. I just wish and hope and pray that something happens. I would love to sit down with the NCAA – no, I'm serious – just to hear their thought process behind this, what they're thinking and what's the future. I'm all for the athletes. I think we need to figure something out for college as a whole."
Watch Anthony's full comments below:
Earlier in the day, James also called the NCAA "corrupt." James did not compete in college and came into the NBA out of high school. Anthony led Syracuse to a national title in 2003 as a freshman before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft.
The news comes amid an federal investigation into several college programs, players and coaches tied to an NBA agent.
