LAS VEGAS– When Carmelo Anthony stood on the stage at the opening of the ESPYs in Los Angeles with NBA stars LeBron James, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade last week, he led them in a clarion call for black athletes to step up and use the power of their celebrity status to influence social change.

The Knicks’ veteran star forward, who will attempt to win third gold medal in men’s basketball next month at the Rio Olympics, has found his voice and wants others like him to step up and follow his lead. Anthony was having trouble sleeping after the fatal police shootings of two black men and the retaliatory killing of five police officers in Dallas and so he got up in the middle of the night, logged into his Instagram account and penned an emotional message that called out politicians, urging them to fight harder to “get this thing called justice right.”

The impassioned post was accompanied by a photograph of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali — some of the most prominent athletes in the Civil Rights Movement who gathered to support Ali’s refusal to fight in Vietnam. ESPN senior management was so impressed, they contacted Anthony, asking if he wanted to use their prime time awards show as a platform to speak up against gun violence.

Anthony accepted and he, James, Wade and Paul left a powerful impression on the audience.

Anthony, who grew up in New York and Baltimore, marched in the streets of Baltimore to protest the death of Freddie Gray, who died April 19, 2015 after suffering a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody. But he knows change requires more than a protest march or a few tweets on social media. He plans on helping organize a town hall meeting with community leaders in Los Angeles this weekend before Team USA plays a Monday exhibition game against China at the Staples Center. “At the end of the day, what I put out there on Instagram and what we did for the ESPYs kind of sparked something,” Anthony said Monday following Team USA’s first practice here at UNLV’s practice facility. “So now we got to follow through with that and make sure everybody is following through.”

This country is sitting on a powder keg. The racial divide is growing wider. The system is broken and if it isn’t fixed, Anthony feels America is destined to watch repeat performances of unspeakable violence on TV.

Black lives matter. Blue lives matter. All lives matter.

“We cannot ignore the realities of the current state of America,” Anthony said. “The events of the past week have put a spotlight on the injustice, distrust and anger that plague so many of us. The system is broken. The problems are not new. The violence is not new. And the racial divide definitely is not new. But the urgency to create change is at an all-time high.

“It’s really sad. I really can’t put it into words, what’s going on not only here but what’s happening in the whole world. It’s like everything is happening at once. But we got to stand united. I don’t think anybody has the solution but everybody has to play a part, keep the dialogue open. It’s all about getting people out there, talking to the right people, trying to create a voice for the community.”

Anthony is a child of poverty who has come a long way since 2004 when, as a 20-year old NBA rookie with Denver, he made a brief cameo in a DVD called “Stop Snitching” with a self confessed drug dealer in his hometown of Baltimore that shows dealers talking about what happens to people who cooperate with police. Anthony said at the time the video was a joke and he was just making a home movie with neighborhood friends. He said that a husband and father, he has grown to understand the power of his voice.

“I look back at those moments and I can sit back and laugh because it made me grow up as a person and as a man,” Anthony said. “It made me grow up and realize who I was an individual. How powerful my voice and presence is. It is something I didn’t know at 19, 20, 21 years old. You just don’t know those things. You’re going through life like nothing can affect you. I didn’t have an understanding about what it meant to be a professional. You want to have a voice but you want to do it right. You can”t just be a voice out there commenting on everything. You need to have a point and execute it.”

Anthony has grown up to be a courageous social activist as well as an NBA All Star. In December 2014, he helped organize a movement urging players to wear T-shirts with the phrase “I Can’t Breathe” — the echoing refrain among protesters in the wake of a grand jury’s decision not to indict an NYPD officer whose chokehold led to the death of an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, on Staten Island that summer.

Anthony, who at 32-years old is the oldest player on this U.S Olympic team, is playing in historic fourth summer games. He is one of only two players– along with Kevin Durant– left from the United States’ 2012 gold medal team in London. If he taken a pass like Cleveland Cavaliers’ forward LeBron James, who also played in three Olympics, no one would have blamed him. But, as he told reporters in March, when the Knicks were fading down the stretch again, he wants to play in the Olympics so he can be reminded of “what that success feels like.”

“It was a difficult decision to make,” Anthony said. “Knowing some of the things that are going on in Brazil, watching some of the guys drop out, guys we were used to playing with. But now we got a new group of guys and I get a chance to go out there and lead these guys and kind of enjoy it. For me it’s about going over there and having fun, getting that fun feeling back and bring home the gold medal.

“A lot of people said don’t do it, don’t do it. For what? I actually enjoy it. But I’ve been a part of USA basketball since high school. I don’t think we as individuals have to do as much as we do on our NBA teams. I think that’s why guys like playing for the USA. You don’t have to do that much, just rely on the best players in the world.”

Life with the Knicks, who missed the playoffs for the third straight season, should be easier for Anthony next season. Team president Phil Jackson has traded for point guard Derrick Rose and acquired forward Joakim Noah and guards Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings in free agency, upgrading the roster, and, if forward Kristaps Porzingis continues to blossom into a star, putting the Knicks in position to make a run in the playoffs.

“The front office stepped up,” Anthony said. “On paper, we look good. We look real good. Thank you Phil.”
A final curtain call in the Olympics will also be significant to Anthony, given the recent tragic events that have threatened rip apart this country.

“The timing couldn’t have been any better for us as a country,” he admitted. “Having a chance to come together, be united, and then go over there on the biggest stage you can possibly play on and have that voice, represent something that’s bigger than us 12 players.”