Is UNC’s Cole Anthony a bad teammate? Answer could dictate his NBA draft night
Cole Anthony, on the verge of realizing his hoop dreams during Wednesday’s NBA draft, found himself on the defensive leading up to it. No one doubts the skill set of the former North Carolina point guard, who averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in an injury-riddled year in Chapel Hill. His NBA pedigree was well established as the son of veteran guard Greg Anthony, who spent a decade in the league, most notably with the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers.
It’s Anthony’s personality that has come into question. Somewhere along the due diligence teams conduct on potential draft picks, someone picked up a thread that Anthony wasn’t a good teammate at UNC. They’ve been tugging at it ever since.
“I’ve almost got a question about that every single interview, but it’s very much false,” Anthony said during a video call conducted by the NBA. “... I was a super supportive guy. I want to see all my teammates succeed as much as I want to see myself succeed, if not more. I don’t know where the narrative comes from, but, shoot, it is what it is.”
When the thread made its way to social media, several current Tar Heel players came to Anthony’s defense. Sophomore forward Armando Bacot was one, telling reporters on a video call that Anthony was a “great teammate.”
“Obviously, with our season being such a letdown a lot of guys just had their head down,” Bacot said. “But he’s one of those guys that came in and tried to pick everybody up. The narrative of him being a bad teammate is just not true at all.”
UNC senior guard Andrew Platek believes it all stems from finishing 14-19. It was the first losing season ever in the three-plus decades of Roy Williams’ coaching career. Platek said that something — or someone — had to account for that.
“When you’re losing so many games, it just makes everyone look worse than it is,” Platek said. “If we were 30-5, I don’t think anyone would talk about his locker room qualities or his leadership abilities because he was a great teammate, a really good guy and I’m behind him all the way.”
The question isn’t enough to make Anthony tumble out of the first round. NBA.com compiled a consensus mock draft of a dozen media outlets, including ESPN.com and CBS Sports, which showed Anthony and Alabama’s Kira Lewis Jr., both projected as the final lottery pick at No. 14 on four of the boards. Even if he’s not taken that high, most observers don’t see him going past the mid 20s.
Anthony was projected much higher a year ago. If the NBA was still drafting players straight out of high school, he may have been a top-five pick. Aside from accounting for his attitude, Anthony’s health had something to do with that. He missed 11 games with UNC due to a right knee injury.
There was speculation, like with Duke’s Zion Williamson in 2019, that Anthony would be better off calling an end to his college career and begin preparing for the draft. By that point in the season, the Heels were already struggling and it was doubtful that they could make the NCAA tournament. Like Williamson, Anthony returned to play and suited up the Heels’ final 13 games, although he said didn’t feel fully healthy until well after the season ended.
“Did it probably hurt my draft stock? Yeah, I mean, that’s the reality the situation,” Anthony said. “But did I regret it? No. I’m glad I got to play with my teammates at UNC. Glad I got to play for Coach Williams and the whole coaching staff. Making that decision to go to Carolina is a decision I’ll never regret. I’m really happy that I was able to come back and play more than that six or nine games I played prior. I don’t regret decision at all.”
Anthony only had individual workouts with Washington, Miami and Orlando, but took Zoom calls from a host of teams including the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and the team he rooted for growing up, the Oklahoma City Thunder. He anticipates being used at both guard spots in the pros, depending on the team that selects him.
One area he said he’s worked on during this long offseason has been his decision making. Anthony said, regardless of his injury, that he didn’t make good decisions with the ball at times last season for Carolina. He even speculated that maybe that’s why organizations have questioned if he was a good teammate.
None of those things will be on his mind Wednesday night. Anthony said hearing his name called will erase all the frustration he’s felt during his toughest year playing basketball.
“I’m not in the ideal position, but all my dreams and all my goals are still ahead of me,” Anthony said. “I still can accomplish every single thing I want to accomplish, so I’m just blessed enough to have that goal for me so I’m happy about that.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 2:06 PM.