Carmelo Anthony wants nothing to do with a Team USA singalong

Rarely mentioned in the usual Larry/Isiah/MJ-led discussions about how current NBA players aren’t mean enough to each other these days is the influence of international tournament camaraderie. It’s not just social media, changing societal norms about tact, poise and reason, or AAU play that bonds these guys. Every two years, a big crew of them gets to go on an award tour to bring home the gold.

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For the Team USA Men’s Basketball Team, heading to Houston for one more exhibition game prior to the 2016 Olympics, the journey has begun. And so have the plane rides. And so has the chance for Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Kyrie Irving and others to start a team singalong to a Vanessa Carlton song.

A song that, to paraphrase DeMar DeRozan, Carmelo Anthony (via Deadspin) just isn’t having any of it:

Anthony’s displeasure is more than understandable, and it’s nothing against Carlton (I worked a show of hers during her commercial peak, and she was a sweetheart). It’s just that the song, “A Thousand Miles,” was played endlessly in 2002. Carmelo Anthony is the oldest member of Team USA at age 32, and like a lot of us 30-somethings he’s probably just still sick of hearing the damn thing.

Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green were 12 when the tune came out. Kyrie Irving was 10. This jam is in their pre-teen wheelhouse. It’s going to be a long series of flights, ‘Melo.

If you’d like the extended version, here you are:

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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