Carmelo Anthony hasn’t had it easy late in his career, spending some time out of the league despite clearly being able to be a productive player. After being waived by the Chicago Bulls, Melo spent nearly 10 months without a team in 2019 before eventually being picked up by the Blazers and then moved to the Lakers.
Although Carmelo struggled to initially accept his diminished role on teams, by the time he signed with Portland, he was okay with playing off the bench and providing some scoring when necessary. Melo has averaged a whopping 27 minutes a game this season, contributing 13.4 points and 4.1 rebounds.
There were a lot of questions about whether the 10-time NBA All-Star would be able to gel with other stars like LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook but Melo has been doing well in his role with no beef emerging with any of the other players on the roster.
LeBron addressed being around Carmelo as a breath of fresh air, speaking after the Lakers got a narrow win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in which Anthony contributed an important 14 points.
“He never gets too high, never gets too low… He’s accepted who he is and he’s great at it and I’m happy to finally say I get a chance to team with him for a season.”
LeBron says being around Melo is a “breath of fresh air every day.”
“He never gets too high, never gets too low… He’s accepted who he is and he’s great at it and I’m happy to finally say I get a chance to team with him for a season."
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) January 3, 2022
James himself scored under 30 points for the first time in 8 games but still had 26 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a needed win. His words on Carmelo are a possible indicator that things are getting better in LA after what has been a quite disappointing start to the season.
Melo is one of the NBA’s most legendary scorers and the Brooklyn-born star will be aiming to win a championship before he stops playing for good. Despite not being the main star, the fact that he has found a way to still contribute tangibly is a great positive for Anthony.
