The Los Angeles Lakers clearly sought veteran talent who could shoot the basketball after their lackluster finish to the 2020-21 NBA season, so it made perfect sense why they chose to sign Carmelo Anthony in free agency.
Anthony spent the past two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, showing the league that he can adapt his game and play whatever role he is asked. This past year, Anthony came off the Portland bench and revealed that he was fine with it because the franchise was transparent with him from the get-go.
The veteran’s relationship with the Trail Blazers front office sounds completely different from the one he had with the New York Knicks and Phil Jackson. Jackson is adorned in the Lakers organization but came up short when he later joined the Knicks.
Anthony and Jackson were not on good terms, and the forward discussed why things went wrong in New York via Kurt Helin of NBC Sports:
“When Phil came, he was just like, he cut that line of communication off me from the Front Office, from the staff members, even players,” Anthony said. “You know what I’m saying? The minute that I knew that was the game that was being played, like ‘Nah.’”
As far as reconciling with Jackson, Anthony does not believe that is going to happen any time soon:
“Nah. I mean, I don’t need closure.…
“I know if I had a sit-down with [Jackson], you wouldn’t say that. You would say something totally different. You’re gonna tell me something like, ‘oh, it wasn’t like that.’ I ain’t really got time for that. I don’t need it at this point.”
Although it is unfortunate the pair were never able to get on the same page, Anthony sounds like he is moved on from the situation and is solely focused on contributing to the Lakers this year. At this stage in his career, Anthony knows he needs to play whatever role he is asked of, and it looks like that will not be an issue.
Carmelo Anthony discusses having to check his ego
Aging superstars often have difficulties letting go of the player they perceive them to be, and Anthony was candid when talking about his own ego as a player.