ESPN First Take has delivered another tell-all with a former NBA superstar; this time with Carmelo Anthony. The 10-time all-star visited the show Friday and sat down with co-host Stephen A. Smith to clear the air about everything. There has been much speculation on Anthony’s career, ever since he unceremoniously departed from the Houston Rockets, a move that he was confused and disrespected by:
“I get there and I’m thinking everything is good. I’m doing everything I gotta do. I never miss a practice; I’m doing all my work…And then the 10th game come, I just didn’t understand where that come from. I reached out to Daryl first and said ‘Can we talk about how we can make this better? What can we do to fix this? What can I do to fix this?’ But then he had in mind that he wanted to come talk to me too about releasing me and letting me go. I didn’t like how that went down.” Melo goes on to say that Morey broke the news by saying he would not be apart of the 9-man rotation, which left Anthony in disbelief.
The interview did not stop there. Anthony went on to talk about a lot more items surrounding the rumors that he was involved in over this past year:
- During his explanation of the Rockets fallout, he declared that he moved past the fact that he will be asked to come off the bench, which has dispelled a huge narrative that surrounds him.
- Melo did not like the “timing” of Chauncy Billups’ recent comments, which implied scoring 30-40 points in a loss made him happier, as opposed to scoring 20 points and winning
- Anthony shot down any notions of wanting a farewell tour, in any shape or form. He emphatically expressed being able to play again throughout the interview but did not give a certain number of years.
- He claims the idea of joining Lebron James and Dwayne Wade for their “Big 3” was brought to him, but he was unsure of how that would work out business-wise. James, and center Chris Bosh, joined Wade in Miami to form the trio in 2010, the same season in which Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks at the trade deadline.
Carmelo Anthony is a great player and people really hate to see him get caught up in the business side of things. He alluded that his departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder had a little bit to do with the price of his contract and him not wanting to restructure his deal. They ended up trading him to the Atlanta Hawks, where he was bought out of his deal and it allowed him to go to Houston, but for only so many games.
This interview was a very smart move by Melo, to dispel some of the things said about him by the internet and possibly around some NBA articles to be honest. He has seen it all from coaching disputes, bad management and super teams; but people still look at him as the same level of his draft peers of Wade and James. Melo’s next shot might not be his last shot. There are teams out there who could use his veteran assistance, especially once the postseason races start heating up. Right now, teams are trying to see what they have in stock before making any preseason additions or waiver wire pickups. Melo is not necessarily a slam dunk choice at the moment, but when things start panning out for some these teams’ season, he should definitely be getting a call.