After years and years of chasing after him, the Los Angeles Lakers and Carmelo Anthony finally have joined forces as the former superstar looks to win his first NBA ring.
Anthony spent the past couple of seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, but now comes to Los Angeles, where he will reprise his bench role. Even though Anthony’s name still carries weight around the league, it is clear that he is a role player that should be leaned on on most nights because of his ability to shoot from outside.
Anthony has had several opportunities to join the Purple and Gold in recent years, but he and LeBron James finally agreed that it was the right time to team up. In an appearance on the “Posted Up with Chris Haynes”, Anthony admitted he never expected the team or James to call:
“I didn’t expect it. I never expected the Lakers to call. I never expected ‘Bron to call. That was just far-fetched to me.”
Even though joining one of his best friends in James was a factor, Anthony revealed there was a bigger reason for him signing with the Lakers:
“Winning. Having a great chance to win. It took me some days to really sit down and break it down and really dig deep into making that decision. To most people, it probably would have been an easy decision. But for me, I really had to align a lot of things … for this to work out, for me to feel comfortable going out there and being away from fam for another year…People don’t understand that part of it. That’s the hard part. The basketball is easy.”
The forward seemed as though he would have been OK retiring without a title under his name, but now that he is with the Lakers it is now the only thing on his mind:
“If I didn’t go to the Lakers, it wasn’t something that was heavy on me. But now that I’m with the Lakers, it’s a must-have. There’s no questions about it. We gotta get it. By any means.”
Even in the twilight of his career, Anthony should see minutes on a championship-caliber Lakers team that looks ready to bounce back after last season’s disappointing finish. Anthony has talked about being willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team, so hopefully this pushes L.A. in the right direction.
Anthony understands significance of wearing a Lakers jersey
Even though Anthony has only been a Laker for a month, he understands the significance that comes with wearing the iconic jersey. No matter what team a player is with, they acknowledge the history that comes with donning Purple and Gold.
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