Carmelo Anthony never played in the Charm City Challenge boys high school all-star basketball game following his senior year at Towson Catholic on his way to Syracuse and a national championship. But his influence was certainly felt at this year's game last week, as four of the 22 players on the Baltimore and United States rosters declared the Denver Nuggets forward to be their favorite athlete.

That fact alone should provide something of an indicator of the extent to which players like Anthony are role models, and thus, how heartbreaking his arrest early yesterday on suspicion of driving under the influence is.

Look, Anthony is six weeks away from being 24, and isn't that much older than the Challenge kids who idolize him. He likely doesn't spend every moment of the day assessing his role model status. He's allowed to do stupid things every so often (see Arizona quarterback Matt Leinart posing for pictures with girls at a party while his ex-girlfriend tended to his infant son).

But this isn't the first time Anthony has gotten rung up for bad behavior, and, at some point, a light should go on in his head that people are watching his every move and that he ought to consider what he's doing to his image. And this would be a fine opportunity for coaches to chat with their kids about the blessings and curses of fame.