{"id":535616,"date":"2026-03-12T13:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/535616\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T13:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:32:18","slug":"with-his-warriors-comeback-deanthony-melton-cant-be-overlooked-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/535616\/","title":{"rendered":"With his Warriors comeback, De\u2019Anthony Melton can\u2019t be overlooked anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the \u201cSection 415\u201d podcast <\/a>wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When De\u2019Anthony Melton shows his teeth, it\u2019s usually with his patented ear-to-ear smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early in the fourth quarter of the Warriors\u2019 Feb. 24 game against the Pelicans, the 6-foot-2 Melton burst toward the rim, exploded off his left foot, and jammed a dunk over 6-foot-10 New Orleans center Karlo Matkovic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rather than smirk, Melton scowled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got here, even the coaches, it was like, \u2018We didn\u2019t know you could do some of this stuff,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always been able to do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melton\u2019s surgically repaired left knee provided the platform for the poster. His torn ACL ended his first stint with the Warriors prematurely, but he\u2019s delivering everything they could\u2019ve asked for in the encore. The combo guard is averaging a career-high 13 points per game, even while his 3-point shot has been uncharacteristically off. Melton has the best plus-minus on the team; the Warriors have won the two-way guard\u2019s minutes by 195 total points.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Nine days after Melton\u2019s huge dunk against the Pelicans, he converted the game-winning putback layup to seal a stunning win in Houston<\/a>. That tap was the high-water mark of Melton\u2019s latest task: trying to keep the Warriors above water while Steph Curry has been sidelined by a runner\u2019s knee injury that will keep him out for at least five more games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melton has done it, per usual, with a smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And a hint of defiance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout my career, I always feel like I\u2019ve stepped up when the best player\u2019s been down,\u201d Melton told The Standard. \u201cIn Memphis, with Ja [Morant] going down, and the success we had with that. Even in Philly, when Joel [Embiid] went down, and me and Tyrese [Maxey] running the show. I just think people haven\u2019t always watched me. You know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TwoThis stretch isn\u2019t the only time Melton has had to step up while a star teammate has been sidelined. | Source: Sean Gardner\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

While Melton might think some of his NBA career has flown under the radar, he doesn\u2019t mind that the outside world doesn\u2019t know much about his personal life. He\u2019s not especially fond of opening up about his upbringing in the San Fernando Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He grew up in a big extended family, with siblings and half-siblings, practically everyone an athlete. The physicality he plays with comes from youth football and from playing pickup hoops against his family on outdoor courts in Los Angeles and the Barrington Recreation Center in Brentwood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family, we were kind of shocked by him being in the NBA,\u201d said Melton\u2019s uncle Stephen Eushery. \u201cIf he made it to the NFL, we wouldn\u2019t have been shocked. He was a football player growing up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His middle school basketball team at Valley Academy played on a carpet instead of a hardwood court. It wasn\u2019t until he got to Crespi Carmelite High School that he focused solely on hoops. His Crespi coaches sometimes picked him up and dropped him off as Melton didn\u2019t have a ride, head coach Russell White said. Some mornings, they brought him breakfast or gave him a lift to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was surrounded by a lot of negativity growing up,\u201d Eushery said. \u201cHe is a blessing. I tell everybody: He is the best of us. Not just because he\u2019s in the NBA, just because he\u2019s a good person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melton stayed out of trouble, stayed positive. Stayed smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s a good one, man,\u201d said White. \u201cIt\u2019s a good smile. It radiates. Even though he was quiet, he found a way of having a presence on campus because of that smile.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

White relied on him even when Melton was a raw freshman because of his all-around play. Melton eventually led Crespi to back-to-back state titles, sealing the 2015 championship with a block as time expired. He graduated as the school\u2019s all-time leading scorer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Despite Melton\u2019s high school accolades, USC was the only Power 5 school to offer him a scholarship. He joined the starting lineup early in his freshman season and never left, helping the Trojans to a program-record 26 wins in the 2016-17 season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andy Enfield, Melton\u2019s Trojans head coach, called him \u201cone of the most humble and unassuming players I\u2019ve ever coached.\u201d Enfield, who has been coaching at the NBA or NCAA levels since 1994, didn\u2019t have to scold or yell at Melton. He leaned on sarcasm instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 day ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

5 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Mar. 3<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe never really got rattled,\u201d Enfield said. \u201cI\u2019d just say, \u2018Hey, you might want to guard that guy next time, De\u2019Anthony\u2019 if he just scored a bucket. That\u2019s all we\u2019d have to say to him; then he\u2019d lock him down for the next 15, 20 minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melton wasn\u2019t allowed to play his sophomore season as he got sucked into the bureaucracy of an FBI and school investigation (opens in new tab)<\/a> involving bribery. He was never named in the FBI\u2019s complaint or found guilty of any wrongdoing, but the circumstances hurt his draft stock and tanked the Trojans\u2019 postseason chances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was devastating to him, to our team,\u201d Enfield said. \u201cThat was really, really hard. He just showed up every day in practice and won every drill and scrimmage again. With a smile on his face.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TwoEven though Melton starred at Crespi, he was overlooked by most NCAA powerhouses. | Source: Rich Pedroncelli\/Associated Press<\/p>\n

Eushery, Melton\u2019s uncle, longtime personal assistant, and roommate, remembers how frustrated Melton would get over the summer during ACL rehabilitation. He could hardly move for weeks after the December 2024 surgery. Daily tasks were uncomfortable. Eushery would drive slowly to the physical therapy clinic at the border of Santa Monica and Brentwood \u2014 even small bumps in the road would irritate Melton\u2019s recovering left knee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The eighth-year NBA guard chilled on the couch with his video games and binged TV. There were days when he was the only one who made it to physical therapy, as others were affected by the Palisades fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Melton suffered his torn ACL six games into the Warriors\u2019 season, the organization was empathetic. The injury left Melton without basketball, which he calls his \u201cescape.\u201d He didn\u2019t hold any grudges after Golden State shipped him out to Brooklyn for Dennis Schroder. He remembers the front office telling him to get his body right for a possible reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I didn\u2019t rehab the right way, and I didn\u2019t do stuff the right way, when they evaluated me, they wouldn\u2019t have wanted me,\u201d Melton said.<\/p>\n

Melton felt like the Warriors valued him. They showed him love. At his price, a $3 million minimum contract, he could\u2019ve signed anywhere. But choosing to return to Golden State was an easy decision, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Injuries are by far the biggest reason Melton has bounced around the league in his eight seasons: Phoenix to Memphis to Philadelphia to Golden State. Perhaps that contributes to his feeling of being overlooked. Does that lack of appreciation bother him?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, a little bit,\u201d Melton said, flashing a grin. \u201cJust because you realize and understand your success, know your roles in certain success. And you know the role you played. But at the same time, it just puts more of a chip on your shoulder. It\u2019s not more so you want recognition; it\u2019s more so of you going and taking respect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AMelton was forced to sit out his entire sophomore season at USC. | Source: Brian Rothmuller\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Melton has done just that this season. Since returning exactly one year from the date he underwent surgery, he has been one of the Warriors\u2019 most reliable contributors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a perfect complement to Curry; the duo have won the minutes they\u2019ve shared by 15.1 points per 100 possessions. Even with Melton on the court and Curry off, the Warriors have a +8.9 net rating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melton\u2019s Daily Plus Minus (opens in new tab)<\/a>, a metric that estimates player impact, ranks in the 92nd percentile in the league \u2014 higher than comparable players like Nickeil Alexander-Walker (79th percentile), Cason Wallace (82nd), and Ayo Dosunmu (50th). Alexander-Walker just signed a four-year, $62 million deal; Wallace is on pace for a major contract extension; and Dosunmu got traded for four second-round picks and two prospects at the deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since Jan. 30, when Curry last played, Melton is averaging 15.6 points per game while handling increased playmaking duties. He\u2019s often the only Warrior who can consistently break the paint from the perimeter. The Warriors are 5-10 in that span, an up-and-down result reflective of their reliance on non-stars like Melton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, he\u2019s come a long way from throwing bounce passes off his middle- school carpet. Practically every team in the league could use Melton\u2019s skill set, and he\u2019s on the path to cashing in.<\/p>\n

For the Warriors to re-sign Melton, they might have to get creative with their cap management. Ducking below the luxury tax, for instance, would allow Golden State to use the $15 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finishing the season healthy is the only way for Melton to guarantee that kind of a payday. He still hasn\u2019t played a full back-to-back, with his lower body tightening up ahead of what was supposed to be a milestone accomplishment Tuesday against Utah.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the biggest thing,\u201d Melton said. \u201cTaking care of my body, man. Taking care of my body. That\u2019s all I\u2019m doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melton said he\u2019s \u201cfor sure\u201d open to coming back to the Warriors, but he\u2019s taking it day by day \u2014just as he did his ACL recovery, his lost sophomore season, his expanded role with Curry sidelined.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s always been his mentality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just always has a positive attitude,\u201d Eushery said. \u201cStuff that drags us down and upsets us, he shrugs it off. Stays positive. I admire that. I wish I could be like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,5552,590,85,58049],"class_list":["post-535616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-steve-kerr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}