After 18 long seasons in the NBA, Carmelo Anthony is finally a Laker, playing alongside his good friend LeBron James in their quest to win a ring.
And while many Lakers fans are excited to see Melo donning the Purple and Gold, Anthony himself may be more excited than anyone. Following an exciting workout with his new team, the basketball veteran issued an encouraging message to Lakers Nation.
“What’s up, Laker fans? You already know who it is. I’m back in the building,” Melo said. “Big shoutout to all the fans, all the Laker fans, Laker Nation, and all the Melo fans that’s out there. It’s going to be an exciting season but it starts now and it starts today and the work gotta be put in behind the scenes.”
“Big shoutout to all the fans.” – @carmeloanthony pic.twitter.com/NQEDiroan2
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 31, 2021
Needless to say, this is a really cool moment and a sign of great things to come.
After winning the Championship in 2020, the Lakers made a lot of changes that didn’t exactly pan out. Whether due to poor chemistry or injury, they failed to find success in the 2021 playoffs, suffering a first-round defeat at the hands of a younger and less experienced Suns team.
In response, Rob Pelinka made a string of signings this past summer, that included Russell Westbrook, Kent Bazemore, Dwight Howard, and more.
For Melo, he has come a long way since being cut from the Chicago Bulls. After short stints in OKC and Houston, he was pretty much cast out of the NBA until Portland took a chance on him in 2019.
In a chat with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on Showtime’s ‘All the Smoke,’ he recently explained what that hiatus was like for him:
“…That whole year, I was like, ‘f**k it,’ I’m getting away from the game of basketball. When you love something, and it don’t love you back no more, it ain’t no point you put your all into it. So, I always said, I’mma keep my body right, I’mma train, I’ll work out, my son had me right, being around his teammates, going to AAU tournaments, that’s what really got me motivated because I was done with the game. The game wouldn’t love me how I loved the game.”
Now that he’s back in the league, and playing for a true title contender, it’s hard not to feel happy for the guy and his current situation.
No doubt, this next year will be something special.
