Getty Images Carmelo Anthony– Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Lakers (October 20, 2018)
Carmelo Anthony has not played basketball in a long time, but one of his former teammates strongly believes that Melo should get to enter or exit the NBA on his own terms.
“Man, I hope above all else that whatever it is, however he wants it to end, he gets to walk away and go down on his own terms,” Quentin Richardson told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“I think he deserves that, I think he’s earned that, I definitely think he’s getting an unfair shake, especially at the last three stops, the way things ended in New York, and then OKC and Houston, I didn’t feel like any of things shook out fairly for him. I think anybody who’s watching can see that he’s handled himself in the most professional way that anybody could under the circumstances where you’ve got people, your own organization, people in there, talking about his name, and doing, you know, just doing things that shouldn’t be happening, you know what i’m saying? Period, at any level. And Melo took the high road every single time, no matter what, has always, you know, taken the high road and did the professional, the good thing, and stayed above horrible things, no matter how bad people were trying to paint him and things like that.”
A 10-time NBA All-Star, Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets this summer after clearing waivers in a trade that shipped him from the Oklahoma City Thunder the Atlanta Hawks.
In an interview with Taryn Finley of the Huffington Post recently, Melo suggested he is at peace with the fact he may not play much longer:
“I’m sure [retirement is] coming soon. I’d be sitting lying to you if I said it’s not coming soon. I think I want it to come soon. I don’t think I want to do this forever, but because you love it so much, it’s hard to give it up. At the end of the day, at anything you do, when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. But as long as you feel good with that.”
Richardson who was once a teammate of Anthony’s during their Knicks days and is currently hosting the Knuckleheads podcast with former Clippers teammate Quentin Richardson, marvels at how Melo has handled his career over the last year.
“I just liked that he stayed true to himself and he’s continued to keep his head high,” Richardson tells Scoop B Radio.
“So, for me, I just hope that [what] he gets is ending the way that he, you know, on his own terms. I mean, obviously, everybody can’t walk away with a championship and things like that, but I mean I think just him ending it on a way with a team where he’s appreciated and, you know, we can appreciate him properly. That’s what I want for him, much how like D-Wade is getting to finish out and we appreciate him and his career and what he’s done.”
The third overall pick in the 2003 draft, Anthony’s last appearance with the Houston Rockets came in a blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Nov. 8 when he had two points and five rebounds.
News out of LA last week was that the Lakers and Anthony halted their talks.
A league source shared with me yesterday that LeBron James and his camp no longer had interest in the Lakers signing Melo this season.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
The Los Angeles Lakers and free agent Carmelo Anthony are pausing talks on a possible contract agreement unless the franchise makes a turn back toward pursuit of Western Conference playoffs contention, league sources told ESPN.
The Lakers had been leaning toward signing Anthony for the rest of the season — until losses in four of the past five games left the organization and Anthony’s camp wondering if it made sense to bring the veteran into an unsettled environment with suddenly so little chance of making the playoffs, league sources said.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been deliberate in watching their cap space all season.
LA added savvy veterans like Tyson Chandler into the fold along with Michael Beasley and Rajon Rondo during the offseason. Beasley has since been traded, waived and signed with a team in China.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
The Los Angeles Lakers and free agent Carmelo Anthony are pausing talks on a possible contract agreement unless the franchise makes a turn back toward pursuit of Western Conference playoffs contention, league sources told ESPN.
The Lakers had been leaning toward signing Anthony for the rest of the season — until losses in four of the past five games left the organization and Anthony’s camp wondering if it made sense to bring the veteran into an unsettled environment with suddenly so little chance of making the playoffs, league sources said.
So what’s next for Carmelo Anthony on the basketball court?
“When the time is right he will speak out,” a source close to Carmelo Anthony shared with me via e-mail recently.
“Melo’s a great person,” Quentin Richardson tells Scoop B Radio. “Been a great player, Hall of Fame player in the NBA, but I mean, as a person, he’s a Hall of Fame person as well, and I think that gets not put on the front page as much as it should be, so I hope those things for him.”
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Carmelo Anthony Deserves Farewell Tour Like Dwyane Wade Says Ex Knicks Teammate