Lee Jin-man / AP Carmelo Anthony (15)

In the aftermath of the 2006 NBA playoffs, Dwyane Wade naturally came away as the undisputed hero after leading his Miami Heat to a rather unlikely championship. Then there was LeBron James, who did almost as much as Wade but who didn’t have enough team around him to produce the same results with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nevertheless, Wade and James jumped to the forefront of pro basketball’s pecking order.

But along came Carmelo.

Carmelo Anthony didn’t have much luck in the playoffs with his Denver Nuggets, losing in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers. But he’s making up for it now.

Anthony is the leading scorer on the U.S. national team after the first three exhibitions, averaging more than 17 points per contest on a team that includes the aforementioned superstars plus Chris Paul, Elton Brand, Kirk Hinrich and Chris Bosh.

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Anthony didn’t need to fix his image in these competitions, just raise his profile. For a moment in time, he had become the forgotten star, a young man with exceptional offensive talent who couldn’t carry his team the way Wade and James have.

But if he’s excelling under coach Mike Krzyzewski, he must be on the right track. This experience will benefit him as a player and a person. It will raise his confidence level. That isn’t to say it was at low ebb, but more that some of his peers were experiencing more success than he was.

That may change between now and the 2008 Olympics if he keeps up the good work.

The Hollywood factor
I have to think that Matt Leinart’s image as a Hollywood pretty boy is hurting him in negotiations with the Arizona Cardinals.

But I don’t blame Leinart. I blame the Cardinals.

Sure, Leinart probably didn’t help his cause by dating Paris Hilton or hanging out with Nick Lachey. But so what? Is he out getting into bar fights? Drinking and driving?

Perceptions die hard. The deeper implication here, which has been perpetuated by many in the media, is that Leinart is more serious about living large and clubbing with celebrities than he is about football. To anyone who has followed his career, that’s rubbish. But to those not capable of anything more than a quick knee-jerk reaction, that’s the portrayal that keeps being repeated.

And I believe the Cardinals have used that against him in negotiations.

Maybe not in so many words, of course, but they’re probably low-balling Leinart and his representatives knowing that there’s pressure on the rookie QB to prove that he really is committed to an NFL career. They’re using the Hollywood factor as leverage.

It’s ridiculous that Leinart is the last first-round pick to sign, and by a wide margin. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure agent Tom Condon would like to get more than the slotted amount the 10^th pick should probably get. But because of their skinflint history, I believe the Cardinals are the ones using every means possible to win this negotiation.

Too bad they don’t have a history of putting that much effort into winning on the gridiron.

Clarett mess not about a failed system
Let me tell you what the world in general and college football in particular can learn from the Maurice Clarett mess: