"Fit in like he would anywhere": Jim Boeheim explains what made Carmelo Anthony an Olympic legend for Team USA (Exclusive)

Carmelo Anthony's former Syracuse coach, Jim Boeheim, expressed his thoughts on the NBA legend's international legacy. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda's Mark Medina on Sunday, Boeheim sat down to talk about Melo's career and his experiences with him.

Boeheim was Syracuse's head coach when Anthony led them to their only national championship in 2003. He was also a constant presence on the USA Men's National Basketball Team's coaching staff in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Medina asked Boeheim to rank Anthony in relation to the role that all the other great players played in USA Basketball's success.

"He was such a good scorer that if he started or came off the bench, it didn’t matter," Boeheim said. "He came off the bench and made 10 or 11 threes in one game. He’s a great international player.

"Kevin Durant and Carmelo are two of the best international players because they are big and they can shoot the 3. Those guys are hard to defend. That’s why they are two of the leading scorers in Olympic basketball history."

"They could make 3s and get to the basket and do stuff there. But whether he started or came off the bench, he loved being on the Olympic team. We had great teams with great chemistry. Everybody got along. They were friends on and off the court. It was just such a great experience to work with those guys. Carmelo fit in like he would anywhere.”

On Sept. 6, Carmelo Anthony will be formally inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 on his first ballot.

How good was Carmelo Anthony for Team USA?

Carmelo Anthony is arguably the best player in Team USA basketball history, right alongside Kevin Durant. The soon-to-be Hall of Famer has always shown up for his nation whenever they needed him the most. He has won three Olympic gold medals and an Olympic bronze medal while playing internationally.

He was one of the key players in the 2008 Redeem Team, which sought to re-establish the USA's dominance in international basketball and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing after walking away with bronze in 2004.

Anthony is the second all-time leading scorer in USA Men's National Basketball history with 336 career points in a USA jersey. Only Durant has more points (494).