Joel Anthony became a household name among
basketball fans in the United States when NBA star LeBron James name- dropped him during a
televised special on the American cable channel ESPN in the summer of 2010. Being featured on the
highest-rated basketball show of the year was a long way from the West Island suburbs of Montreal where
Anthony first learned to play the game.
“I got a lot of text messages
when people heard my name mentioned. I was just so surprised to hear LeBron talk about me,” Joel Anthony,
starting centre for the NBA’s Miami Heat, tells Lifestyler. “Back when I was a kid in Montreal, I never thought
about the NBA.”
The pride of Dollard-des-Ormeaux
is the second Canadian basketball player from Montreal’s West Island to have made it to the NBA. Bill Wennington, who starred with the
Chicago Bulls alongside Michael Jordan, was born in Montreal but
gained basketball fame at both the high school and university levels in the New York City area. Anthony’s
story relied a great deal more on twists of fate, good fortune and an incredible work
ethic.
“Through my journey to the
NBA, opportunities kept on presenting themselves and I
kept on jumping on them. I was always trying to work hard and get better but I never really thought the
NBA was a strong possibility,” says
Anthony.
“As a high schooler in Montreal,
my biggest objective was to get a college scholarship to the States. Even that is not very normal in Montreal
and it was enough of an obstacle,” he adds. “People don’t know, but Montreal has a great deal of basketball
talent. There have been a number of guys who are talented but haven’t been put in the right situation. I was
lucky to come around at a time when things were changing. Since me, young guys like Kris Joseph at Syracuse
University have shown that they have real talent. Now a lot of young guys are being put in the right
situation to excel.”
Anthony started playing the
sport at an age when most future stars would have already been scouted and identified by both colleges and
professional teams. The NBA was the furthest thing from his mind but as a tall
16-year-old, Anthony was convinced by some of the older guys in Montreal’s basketball community to really
devote to the sport.
“I had people in the rec
leagues, the older guys from Montreal that had played in the States and in Europe telling me how I had great
potential to become a basketball player. Guys like Trevor Williams, Wayne Yearwood and Mike Smith helped me a
lot. They got me to stay in the game. I eventually played all over Montreal. I played on outdoor courts from
Lachine to NDG as well as rec leagues around the city.”
Anthony’s lucky break came from
playing with the Sun Youth program in Montreal in the summer following the end of the school year at
Dawson College. While competing in a tournament against American
teams, he played well enough to get noticed by some of the assembled coaches.
“Sun Youth gave me the chance to
gain exposure. I played well and got a great response from U.S. college coaches and sort of went from there.
I could have gone to a four-year college; however, I didn’t have the grades at Dawson College so I had to go to a junior
college.”
He ended up in Pensacola, Fla.,
at the local community college. Small-town life in the southern United States was a big shock for a kid who
had grown up in a multi-language, multicultural city such as Montreal.
“It was a tough time for me.
Even though I always wanted to go to the States, nothing could have prepared me for it. It ended up being the
best thing that could have happened to me. The experience helped me develop on and off of the court,” says
Anthony.
After two years in Florida,
Anthony earned a scholarship to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He was now playing for a college rich in
basketball tradition in one of the top conferences in the United States, and yet the NBA never seemed like a
possibility.
Recalls Anthony, “During my
junior year at UNLV, I began to think that I might be able to play
professionally. My coach surprised me by saying that maybe a year or two later, I could play in the
NBA!”
After his senior year at
UNLV, Anthony went undrafted by NBA teams but secured an invitation to try out with
the Miami Heat for its summer league team. Anthony passed this first test and impressed the team
executives.
“In the summer league with the
Heat, I had one great game. I had a bunch of blocks and altered a few shots and people took notice. I wasn’t
sure if I would go to veteran’s camp in the fall; however, I was invited. I really didn’t take much for
granted and didn’t expect anything. Obviously I was happy to be going to vet camp but even then I wasn’t
guaranteed a spot on the team,” says Anthony. “At camp, I really took it day by day and worked as hard as I
possibly could.”
This combination of hard work
and focusing on the moment proved to be a winning strategy. He beat out the other players in training camp to
earn the final roster spot on the Miami Heat. His unlikely career as an NBA basketball player had begun, beyond even his
wildest dreams as a youngster in Montreal.
“What I am really happy about is
that I am an example for kids. In me they can see someone who was born and raised in Montreal that made it to
the NBA. If someone has the belief and the confidence, my
story is an example of what you can become. My secret is hard work. Put in the hard work and be focused on
reaching your goals. Do not take a minute off towards accomplishing your goals. Focus on a goal and go after
it,” states Anthony.
The game of basketball may have
taken this Montrealer around the world and given him the opportunity to make millions, yet his hometown
remains close to his heart.
“My heart is in Montreal. The
people are what make the city. I just like the whole atmosphere of the city. I have had the chance to travel
all over the world but Montreal is a place that I like the most. I think it is because of the people that I
was around while growing up. My heart is there.” •
Photo Courtesy: Getty
Images
