Carmelo Anthony Hires New Agency To Assist In His Foundation Efforts

The Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony has tapped a public relations agency in his hometown of Baltimore to promote his foundation and philanthropic efforts.

Anthony may need an assist in boosting his image after an arrest on a drunken-driving charge and ugly losses to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs. He said after Game 3 that his team “quit.”

The hiring of Maroon PR is the latest indication that Anthony, 23, wants to shake up his business and branding endeavors.

Anthony in March dumped his marketing team at BDA Sports and hired a public relations firm, Tease Marketing. The former Syracuse University star “wanted to go in a different direction,” team members said.

Now Maroon PR is representing the Carmelo Anthony Foundation, an organization that aims to help children in Denver, Baltimore and Syracuse, N.Y. He continues to work with Tease, run by ex-Nike manager Theresa Tran.

John Maroon, head of the firm, sent an e-mail to Anthony’s advisers after reading the BDA news. Maroon said in early April, before a key game against the Golden State Warriors, that he met with Anthony and others at a Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco.

“I got the impression that Carmelo is intent in using the platform basketball gave him to help kids that come from disadvantaged backgrounds,” Maroon said by phone Wednesday. “He made it clear he wanted to take his foundation to a new level.”

Maroon, who also represents the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, said a top priority is finding corporate supporters. To date, Anthony has largely made all the financial contributions, Maroon said.

Anthony gave about $1 million to the foundation in 2006, according to the most recent public filing available. Melo Enterprises Inc. was listed as the contributor of half of that sum.

Baltimore groups received the lion’s share of his money, the documents show. His foundation sent $175,000 to the Living Classrooms Foundation, $100,000 to a basketball program, Charm City Choice, and another $2,400 to the Kurk Lee Foundation.

Team Up For Kids in Denver received $30,000.

A news release Wednesday cited donations of more than $4 million for projects, including a youth center in Baltimore and a grant to Syracuse University for a basketball practice facility.

Among the group’s activities are an annual “3-on-3 Challenge” and fundraising events in Denver and Syracuse.

Anthony has an active business off the court. He recently extended a contract with Nike’s Jordan brand, agreeing to a roughly $60 million, seven-year deal. Other ventures include deals with Powerade and mStation, a maker of stereos for the iPod. His “extreme” energy drink, called C1.5, didn’t survive long, however.

The 6-foot-8 forward is a prolific scorer and one of the best in the game. But failing to take the Nuggets even close to the Finals and getting into trouble have been impediments to raising his profile.

Anthony was slapped with a 15-game suspension last season for fighting and was caught at the airport in 2004 with marijuana in his backpack. A friend later took the blame and authorities dropped the charges.

“We plan to present him very honestly,” Maroon said. “The big issue with any athlete is whether they are engaged. He’s completely engaged and genuinely cares a lot about youth.”

- James Paton, Rocky Mountain News