Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony has not played NBA basketball in a while.
The third overall pick in the 2003 NBA 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.
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 to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Los Angeles Lakers had been leaning toward signing Anthony for the rest of the season — until a mound of losses occured.
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.”
Million Dollar Question: What’s next for Carmelo Anthony?
“I don’t think a team will bring him in at this point,” NBA Hall of Famer, Grant Hill told me.
“I’m not sure what team will bring him in and what his role will be, but I think next season a team will possibly bring him in.”
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.”
Grant Hill (R) of the Detroit Pistons backs down Quincy Lewis of the Utah Jazz during their match 19 February, 2000 in Salt Lake City, Utah. AFP PHOTO (Getty)
A 10-time NBA All-Star with career averages of 24 points and 6.5 rebounds, Melo has a lot left in the tank.
Anthony’s NBA contemporaries still think so, too.
“Analytics is what did that to him,” Memphis Grizzlies swingman, CJ Miles told NBA scribe, Landon Buford.
“He is a bucket that is what he is. I understand the situation went a certain way, but he still is Melo. He still has a lot in his tank and he can still play this game. I think situations have gone his way, but the slander talk is crazy a lot of the time.”
“Carmelo is a scoring machine, said the Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside.
Retired NBA player, Quentin Richardson, currently one-half of the Knuckleheads Podcast with Darius Miles believes that Melo should be on a team. “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,” Richardson told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“He’s a great player,” Knicks captain, Lance Thomas told me in December.
“He’s a great teammate, most importantly he’s a great human being and he’s always been a great advocate for the NBA as a brand. So I just want him to get back on a team and play the sport he loves that’s paved a way for him and his family, and he just loves to play basketball, so I really want him back on a team.”