The “Syracuse (or Jim Boeheim) would have never won a championship without Carmelo Anthony” thing is so stupid for many reasons, but 2 in particular:
First, you need good players and typically at least one great player to win a championship. Take the best player off of the last 25 National champions and how many still win the championship? There’s only 2 that I can think of. (07 Florida and one of the recent UConn teams)
Secondly, Syracuse has had more heart break over the years in the tourney than good luck. The Keith Smart jumper in 87, AO’s injury in 2010, having to play one of the greatest teams of all time in 96. It’s not hard to imagine a universe where Syracuse has 2 or 3 championships. So I’m not going to apologize for Carmelo Anthony being the biggest factor in winning Syracuse a championship in 03.
Rant over.