Carmelo Anthony didn’t expect to receive call from LeBron James, Lakers to sign in free agency
The Los Angeles Lakers picked up Carmelo Anthony on a one-year deal for the minimum in free agency, but it was possible that wouldn’t have been the case.
Unlike previous years when seemingly no team was interested in bringing aboard Anthony, the 37-year-old forward revealed he had interest from several teams this offseason.
Among the options he considered were the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks or re-signing with the Portland Trail Blazers, his home for the last two seasons. The New Orleans Pelicans were another team that had interest.
In the end, however, a call from LeBron James turned the tide for Anthony’s decision. Anthony divulged what James had told him in the call, and Anthony decided to team with a fellow member of the 2003 NBA draft class.
However, he wasn’t expecting James or the Lakers to call, via the “Posted Up with Chris Haynes” podcast:
“I didn’t expect it. I never expected the Lakers to call. I never expected ‘Bron to call. That was just far-fetched to me.”
But it wasn’t a clear-cut decision for Anthony to make. He explained his thought process and the key reason for signing:
“Winning, having a great chance to win. It took me some days to really sit down and break it down and really dig deep into making that decision. To most people, it probably would have been an easy decision. But, for me, I really had to align a lot of things for this to work out, for me to feel comfortable going out there and being away from family for another year. … People don’t understand that part of it. That’s the hard part. The basketball is easy.”
With Anthony on the roster, the Lakers have a player who shot 40.9% from deep on 4.7 attempts a game. That type of shotmaking from deep is something L.A. didn’t have enough of last season, and the veteran forward should assist in that department.
It’s unclear what role Frank Vogel will have for Anthony, but that type of shooting should see him get respectable minutes, especially alongside James.