‘Mr. Do Something’: How De’Anthony Melton became an elite defender and essential Sixer

As Andy Enfield watched last spring’s NBA playoff series between the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors with his three children, the USC coach viscerally reacted to the Grizzly who catapulted himself straight up to block Stephen Curry’s high-arching finger roll.

Enfield initially thought a Memphis big man had swatted the ball at its highest point, a play that ultimately led to a Ja Morant alley-oop slam at the opposite end. Enfield’s daughter corrected that De’Anthony Melton — Enfield’s former player — had gone airborne.

“I had to rewind it, because it was such an incredible play,” Enfield recently recalled in a phone conversation with The Inquirer. “I said, ‘How’s a guy 6-foot-2 make that play?’

“That doesn’t scream on the stat sheet the next day. You don’t notice it. But if you watched the game, he does those things to help you win.”

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That play signifies Melton’s impact during a basketball career he has described as “unexpected, but expected.” The 76ers guard faced a challenging childhood and was an under-recruited college prospect because he was never a flashy scorer. His USC career was cut short when he was ruled ineligible during an FBI investigation that revealed no wrongdoing by him. He was traded twice in his first calendar year as an NBA player, and three times in less than five seasons.

Yet Melton prides himself on being adaptable, low-maintenance and productive. Now in his first season with the Sixers, Melton has established himself as one of the NBA’s elite defensive pests by using uncanny instincts, a massive wingspan and quick hands to rank third in the league in steals (2.3 per game) and tied for third in deflections (3.9 per game) entering Saturday. He averages 4.4 rebounds, a strong mark for a guard, and 3.3 assists — while playing through a back issue that is keeping him out of practices. Injuries to star guards James Harden and Tyrese Maxey have temporarily pushed Melton into the starting lineup, and into shouldering a greater offensive load.

That all seemingly coalesced Friday, when Melton exploded for his best game as a pro during the Sixers’ wild victory over the Lakers.

He scored a career-high 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including an eye-popping 8-of-12 from three-point range. He collected seven steals, also the most in his career, and tied for the most by any NBA player this season entering Saturday. He became the first Sixer to ever record at least 30 points, eight three-pointers and seven steals in the same game, and only the second player in NBA history to do that since the introduction of the three-point line.

In Memphis, Melton’s intangibles, nonstop energy and versatility earned him the nickname “Mr. Do Something.” His breakout night illustrated why, with the Sixers, he is striving for even more.

“This is where I wanted to be, this is where I feel like I deserve to be,” Melton said. “And I feel like I can be even better. A lot of stuff has happened, and some people probably would have folded or it would mess up their [mentality], but I just try to stay focused.

“There was a reason behind everything.”

Melton hopes to someday release a book or movie about his life. But when asked recently to describe his childhood living in north Hollywood with his single mother, Monique, and five siblings, he politely declined to provide details beyond, “We [didn’t] grow up with money” and, “It was a lot of trials and tribulations.”

“But all that stuff made me who I am today,” Melton said, “put extra armor on me to prepare me for what’s going on. You’ve just got to understand nothing’s easy. Sometimes, stuff’s going to get even harder, and you’ve just got to keep going.”

Melton’s mom and sister Destiny, however, glowingly spoke about young “D-Man” in a 2018 interview with this reporter. He was skinny with long arms of an unknown genetic origin. His personality was quiet-yet-silly, with a contagious smile.

“If there’s somebody out there that doesn’t like my son De’Anthony, then that means there’s something wrong with them,” Monique said. “Because everybody likes him. Not just likes him, loves him. They [take] a liking to him even when they first meet him.”

When De’Anthony was 3 or 4 years old, his grandfather began taking him to Barrington Park in Brentwood. He tried soccer, baseball and tennis, but naturally gravitated most to football and basketball.

He channeled his “young Mike Vick” on the football field with jukes to avoid tackles, while also playing defensive line, secondary and returner. Basketball skills such as ballhandling were more challenging for Melton but became his sole sports focus following ninth grade.

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Russell White, then coach at Crespi High School, approached De’Anthony and Monique at a junior-high tournament about joining his program. An all-boys Catholic school located a 30-minute drive from their home, where her son could focus on grades and sports with more limited distractions, “was just right up my alley,” Monique said.

Melton needed to adjust to the new environment, and initially struggled with grades, White said, because of the uptick in academic rigor. To ease the costs of attending private school, Melton sometimes received photocopies of textbook pages or borrowed clothes from classmates. To make sure he made it to practice and class, an assistant coach gave Melton a ride.

“Not everybody goes through this stuff,” Melton said. “But you can either get sad, get mad, or get motivated — so I just decided to go get motivated and keep pushing.”

Added Destiny: “He gave people that kind of energy to where people always wanted to make sure he was good.”

On the basketball court, meanwhile, Melton became fascinated with triple-doubles and the quest “to get as many stats in every category that I could,” he said. And it started by emphasizing defense, the end of the floor where Melton possesses instincts he and former coaches cannot explain.

“He was always in the right spot,” said White, who is now the head coach at Cal Lutheran University, in a 2018 interview. “He always knew where the ball was going. … If I could bottle it, I would be a better coach, for sure.”

As a freshman, Melton guarded the opposing team’s best player regardless of position. In the state championship game his junior season, Melton preserved a one-point victory by swarming a ballhandler full-court and pinning the game-winning block against the backboard. He was perhaps the best all-around player in California the following season — averaging three steals, four assists and nine rebounds in addition to his 20 points per game, per White’s records — while part of the same class as the ballyhooed Lonzo Ball.

That production, combined with his unassuming demeanor and a work ethic that developed over time, made Melton “revered” at Crespi, White said.

“I [got] to talk to my players [at Crespi],” White said, “and just constantly say, ‘Hey, De’Anthony didn’t do that. That’s not how De’Anthony acted. And, by the way, he was better than you, so just shut your mouth and show up and work.’”

Still, Southern Cal was the only Power 5 conference school to offer Melton a scholarship. Enfield believes Melton, a three-star recruit, was underrated because he did not pile up points against overmatched high-school competition or while on the AAU circuit. Enfield’s staff, however, noticed Melton’s versatility and feel for the game as a rebounder and defender, along with his potential to develop lead guard skills.

“De’Anthony just helped his team to win,” Enfield said. " ... If you just really watched him, he didn’t need to score.”

Years before they were Sixers teammates, Matisse Thybulle used Melton’s name as a source of motivation. Then a University of Washington standout, Thybulle constantly kept tabs on the way he and Melton seemingly flip-flopped atop the Pac-12 steals leaders after each game.

Melton had won a starting job at USC a couple of games into his freshman season, teaming up with Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jordan McLaughlin to create a backcourt that was “really hard to guard, because they were so smart and creative with the basketball,” Enfield said. Melton averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals for a Trojans team that set a school record with 26 wins and, as a No. 11 seed, upset SMU in the NCAA Tournament’s first round.

Then, the unexpected derailed Melton’s college career.

He was ruled ineligible because of an FBI investigation involving former USC assistant coach Tony Bland, an agent and financial advisor, and a close family friend of Melton’s. Bland received two years’ probation and 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit bribery because he “agreed to receive payments in exchange for directing basketball players … to retain the services of certain financial advisors and business managers,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

Though Melton was never named in the criminal report against Bland, he remained barred from playing for the entire season. Monique called the saga “devastating.” Melton still bristles slightly when asked about it, saying it taught him to be aware that “the bigger you get, the more sharks and snakes … are going to want to attach themselves to your name.”

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Yet Enfield praised the way Melton continued to practice — “and, a lot of days, he was our best player” — just in case he was abruptly cleared to play for the Trojans’ next game.

“Those were probably the two best hours of the day for him,” Enfield said. “Because a lot of the other [hours], he had to think about, ‘Why am I not playing?’ It was very hard on him. Give him a ton of credit. He just kept such a great attitude and worked so hard. He deserves everything he gets.

“He was one of our favorite players to ever coach, because he never asked for anything. He just showed up every day, competed and was a great teammate.”

Added Monique: “There [were] days where I was crying, and he was like, ‘Mom, come on. Can you just stop, please?’ I always say, ‘It’s unfair. It’s unfair. It’s unfair.’ He just made sure that crying was not the answer.”

Melton decided to leave USC — and the comforts of Southern California — to focus on training for the 2018 NBA draft. He began with rigorous cardio and footwork in Cleveland, then focused on ballhandling in New York. He worked with renowned trainers Idan Ravin in Miami, and Tyler Relph in Dallas. That all brought him back to Los Angeles to sharpen his shot form with Drew Hanlen (who, coincidentally, also works with Joel Embiid).

When Melton gathered with loved ones on draft night, a quiet room turned wild when his name was called as the Houston Rockets’ selection at No. 46.

“He was staring at the television with this grin on his face,” sister Destiny said. “Everybody was jumping on him, jumping around him, and he was not moving. He was looking at the TV like, ‘That’s me. Wait a minute, they said my name.’”

Sitting courtside in Houston’s Toyota Center last week, Melton recalled the way legendary Rockets assistant John Lucas immediately got on him following a poor first practice to prepare for 2018 NBA Summer League.

“He was like, ‘You need to attack every time. … You’ve got to play hard, pick up, guard, don’t let him go around you,’” Melton said. “I just took a huge leap.”

That’s one in a series of Melton’s early-career lessons, which could be partially retraced during the Sixers’ most recent road trip that stopped in Cleveland, then Memphis, then Houston.

That short stint with the Rockets — now-Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey traded Melton to the Phoenix Suns before his rookie season — quickly revealed the NBA’s business side. His minutes were inconsistent for the 19-win Suns in 2018-19, keeping him in the gym with assistant Joe Prunty to work on offensive drills and defensive slides. The ensuing July, general manager James Jones pulled Melton into his office to share he was being traded to the Grizzlies, his third team before the start of his second professional season.

“They really like you,” Melton recalled Jones telling him. “They really want you.”

Last week, Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins grinned while breaking down what he coined as “three-minute Melt” stretches, or strings of consecutive possessions when one of Melton’s defensive plays directly led to a transition opportunity or open shot on the other end. Melton improved as a shooter during his three seasons with the Grizzlies, including making 41.2% of his 4.1 three-point attempts per game in 2020-21. He earned his second contract in 2020 — then the second-largest in NBA history for a second-round draft pick coming off a two-year deal — and celebrated by buying cars for his mom and sister.

The way former teammates mobbed Melton following his Memphis return game on Friday — culminating with a jersey swap with the superstar Morant — illustrated how well he fit in with the Grizzlies’ exciting young core.

“It’s not just one game,” Jenkins said. “It’s a totality of a lot of stretches where he had significant impact on turning a game.”

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When Melton’s minutes became spottier during last season’s playoff run, however, the possibility he could land on a new team emerged. Philly was a place Melton “for sure” thought would be a fit. And after multiple attempts to acquire him, Morey said told The Inquirer in October, he finally pulled off a draft-night trade that sent the Sixers’ first-round pick and injured veteran Danny Green to Memphis. Melton was playing the card game Bourré with friends at his house when the trade broke, double-checking that the alert that popped into his phone was factual.

Melton joining the Sixers has been serendipitous for Rivers, who first learned about him during Los Angeles golf outings with Enfield. The coach and Melton’s new teammates have already marveled at his aggressive defensive capabilities, which have helped the Sixers rank fourth in the NBA in efficiency (109.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) entering Saturday.

Melton calls his active and physical approach “detouring,” or forcing opponents away from their go-to offensive moves. In a late-October game in Toronto, the Sixers unofficially credited Melton with 10 deflections, including one play “he wasn’t even involved [in]. He just jumps up and catches the pass” like a defensive back, Rivers said. Last week in Cleveland, he stripped Donovan Mitchell and the All-Star “didn’t even know he had taken the ball,” teammate P.J. Tucker said. During one first-half sequence against the Rockets, Melton jarred the ball away from young star Jalen Green and, on the other end, kept an offensive rebound alive for an Embiid layup.

What most impresses Thybulle — a two-time selection to the All-NBA Defensive team — is that even if Melton slips out of position while guarding his man, he can recover.

“It makes me jealous,” Thybulle said. “Like, how do I do what he’s doing? He’s been that anchor for us, just taking on other team’s best players and making life real hard for them.

“The cool thing about being a defender is your success is really felt by the team. So when he has success — whether it’s a steal or a block or just forcing someone into a bad shot they miss — it amps everybody up. Then it makes our offense better, and then that makes our defense better and it just becomes this whole tidal wave.”

Against the Lakers, it became a personal onslaught.

Melton calmly and confidently buried catch-and-shoot three after catch-and-shoot three from all over the floor, including a make that put the Sixers up eight with 44.3 seconds to play before the frenzied finish to regulation. Unsurprisingly, Melton said the steals — including one where he leapt into the air to swipe a Lonnie Walker pass from the lane to the right corner, and another where he poked the ball from Dennis Schröder from behind and leaked free for a fastbreak layup — were more meaningful and, when asked if he had a favorite, said, “Without one, I don’t get seven. So all of them, I love.”

Following his career performance, Melton walked into the interview room with his red jersey tucked inside his sweatshirt pocket. It was a souvenir for his mother who has watched his “unexpected, but expected” career unfold.

“Especially on a night like this ... " Melton said.

Mr. Do Something, indeed.