Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony has displayed great leadership skills in training camp.

"Melo's really taken a big piece of leadership role on the team," Chauncey Billups told the Denver Post.

"Guys are looking up to him. Melo always, since I've been here, he's been our best practice player. He goes hard. When you've got your best player going extremely hard like that and playing and competing every single practice, it makes everyone else around him say, 'He's doing it, I better do it.' He's been great."

Anthony claims that nothing he's done differently this preseason was calculated.

"Nah, it's just natural," Anthony said. "Being a leader isn't something that you go home and go, 'Man, I'm going to be a leader today.' It was always instilled in me. But I'm a leader in my own way. I come in, I play hard. It just so happens it's coming out more.

"Guys are starting to ask me questions now. I feel like a veteran now. When you start getting that, your confidence goes up and your leadership just grows even more."