Melo ... Giving Back

Carmelo Anthony seems to be living the good life these days.

A $15.7 million NBA contract for 2009-2010 ... Addresses in Denver and Los Angeles ... Appearance in the 2009 Western Conference finals ... Starter for the USA’s gold-medal winning team at the Beijing Olympics ... Celebrity regular at music award programs ... High-profile DJ girlfriend, LaLa Vazquez.

For the man who always will be "Melo" to his adopted hometown of Baltimore, Anthony is Baltimore through and through. What you saw as an urban teenager you still see shades of publicly today at 25 – like the ball cap on the side of the head (with the nylon scarf beneath), the long Ts or hoodie with baggie jeans, the Timberlands. Melo still talks Baltimore – the short, clipped sentences with that familiar side-winding, hard city drawl. The Melo brand. The difference between now and then -- the millions of dollars his brand commands.

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