Carmelo Anthony quickly won the hearts of the Los Angeles Lakers faithful after joining the team last summer.
Anthony embraced his role as the leader of the second unit, providing L.A. with a shooting boost off the bench. The 38-year-old forward averaged 13.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 69 games, making 44.1% of his field goal attempts and 37.5% of his triples.
Having transformed into a lethal spot-up shooter, Anthony proved he still had plenty to offer even though his heyday was long gone. Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green recently acknowledged the Lakers forward’s dominance back in his time with the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks, saying he would pick Melo over Kevin Durant if he had to choose a better scorer in their primes, via The Volume:
“I’m going to go with Melo and the reason I’m gonna go with Melo is because I grew up watching Melo score the basketball. Melo came to the league in ’03. I was 13 years old. I grew up watching Melo get a bucket however you wanted. You want the mid-post work? First step is crazy. You wanted the straight block work? Fadeaway is tough. And Melo will bully the hell out of somebody. You want the [3-ball]? We all know he can do that, he was just a 3-point shooter for the USA team. And we know USA Olympic Melo is crazy… The reason I’m gonna go with Melo is actually this. It’s something that he did when I was playing against him. We were playing against him at the Garden, it had to be my first or second year in the league, and Melo caught the ball in the post and faced up on me, put his shoulder into my chest, I may have fouled him a little bit, maybe not. And he went through my chest and I got the stop, he missed. I maybe fouled him, maybe not. Turned around to the ref and he tells ‘Call the f—ing foul!’ As we run back down the court, and we come back down and he did the exact same move the next play. And made the referee call a foul. And the reason why that’s such a big deal to me is because as a scorer, you go in a slump, you have bad shooting nights. And the one thing that breaks scorer slumps can be a free throw and just knowing that Melo can get to the free throw line like that, that’s why I’m gonna pick Melo. But man, that’s a pick ‘em, for real. Can you go wrong with either one? I don’t think so.”
Both Anthony and Durant averaged over 20 points every season before turning 32, proving both players’ offensive prowess over the years. Only seven other players have managed to keep the scoring average this high for 14 consecutive seasons.
Anthony remains without a team after his one-year contract with the Lakers expired. L.A. still has one roster spot open for 2022-23.
Knicks held ‘internal discussions’ about signing Anthony
Anthony was noncommittal in his exit interview when asked about running it back with the the Purple and Gold. The 10-time All-Star reportedly felt comfortable in L.A. and could see himself returning to the Lakers if they improved the roster.
However, the Knicks are believed to have held “internal discussions” about reuniting with Anthony earlier this summer — five years after the forward left New York City.
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