Knicks F Carmelo Anthony yesterday "revealed that there are plans to hold a town hall meeting this weekend" in L.A. to address social change before the U.S. Olympic basketball team plays an exhibition match, according to Frank Isola of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Anthony, who last week made a plea at the ESPYs along with Bulls G Dwyane Wade, Cavaliers F LeBron James and Clippers G Chris Paul, "remains committed to using his powerful voice to make a positive change in the community." Anthony said, "What we did for the ESPYs ... it sparked something." Following several national tragedies in recent weeks, Anthony said that he "felt the urge to say something." Anthony said of a recent Instagram post that received much attention, “I’ve always been outspoken about situations and things like that. I was sitting home watching it and it just hit me. It was like ‘enough is enough.’ It took a while for me to come up with that. A couple of days went by. I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the night, I just started typing, just started typing and that’s how everything came about.” The N.Y. Daily News printed Anthony’s entire Instagram post on its back page, and "within a few days, Anthony wrote a longer editorial in The Guardian." He said of Wade, Paul and James, "Those guys were already going to the ESPYs. I wasn’t going to the ESPYs. Then they called, the guys called and we got on a group text, and said we should use this platform for the opportunity to speak. They said it was all because of what I posted. I’m glad the guys I’m close with stepped up. They have a big voice in their own way and they utilized that. ... I don’t think anybody has the solution. ... everybody has to play a part and keep that dialogue open, that conversation open" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/19).
THE FLOOR IS YOURS: In N.Y., Scott Cacciola writes Anthony "appears determined to use his platform as a sports star to advance his growing interest in social activism, particularly when it comes to gun violence" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/19). Anthony said, "I had a lot of very important people reach out to me, want to do something, seeing how they can help, how they can step up. For me, it was about just getting everybody, not just athletes, but just get people talking to the right people, talking to the community, have a voice for the community because they need it" (NEWSDAY, 7/19).
