Getty Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony joining the BIG 3?
Founder, Ice Cube isn’t opposed to it.
“It depends on him,” Ice Cube told COMPLEX.
“If he wants to ball out at this level, then yeah. But if he thinks it’s a stigma behind it, you know what I’m saying like, “I’m playing in the BIG3, I’m done.” If he thinks that, then he probably won’t. And it’s not a stigma. BIG3 ain’t the end. It’s the beginning. It’s prolonging. The end is when the NBA said bye.”
A 10-time NBA All-Star, Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets last 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 this past season — until a mound of LA losses occurred.
Now everyone wants to know what’s next.
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Carmelo Anthony Considers Retirement
Anthony even considered retirement.
In an interview with Taryn Finley of the Huffington Post, Melo suggested that he is at peace with the fact he may not play much longer. “I’m sure [retirement is] coming soon,” he said.
“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.”
Anthony has been working out with members of the Brooklyn Nets in Los Angeles.
According to a report by SNY’s Ian Begley and Anthony Puccio, Anthony and the Nets have participated in informal workouts.
Per Puccio and Begley: “It is unknown if the Nets are one of the teams that Anthony and his representatives have talked to about a potential signing. The club’s interest level in signing Anthony to a contract is also unknown.”
Melo to Brooklyn from a basketball standpoint makes sense.
The Nets have a potent roster with names like Caris LeVert, Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie complimenting Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Ice Cube Makes Strong Argument for BIG3 Career
Ice Cube thinks that Anthony should consider Big 3 Basketball, however.
“You can have a whole another career in the BIG3 that might even be longer than your NBA career,” he told COMPLEX.
“If you keep your body in shape and you want to play, I love it. You can play at that level. Because it is a level. It ain’t just a cakewalk. So players got to make up that in they own mind and in they own hearts. I know we got something that’s dope, especially for the summer. And why wouldn’t you want to get down?”
Ice Cube isn’t the first person associated with the Big 3 to extend an olive branch. Jerome ‘Junkyard Dog’ Williams did also.
“I hope he will be on a team next year,” retired NBA player Jerome Williams told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“Carmelo Anthony at this time is making a transition because it’s a decision you have to make as a player.
“How do you want this to end? Do you want to help a young team? Or do you want to keep chasing the trophy and the ring? When you chase the trophy and the ring, a lot of time, those careers end abruptly because teams have to go in a certain direction. You either let the young players play or they have to get better through trades.”
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