Carmelo Anthony made some interesting claims on a recent appearance on The Why With Dwyane Wade podcast. Anthony stated that he was searching for Darko Milicic when the big man had a workout with the Detroit Pistons in 2003 to show that he was better, but was unable to find him as he had been hidden. Milicic has now responded and he just wants Anthony to enjoy life.
“Where can you find me now, when I’m the strongest, ha-ha, Milicic told Republika. Brother Carmelo is probably really high, he’s bored, I don’t know. He ended his career, as far as I know, where he remembered me just now. Enjoy life, man. I would tell him to relax, play some nice music and enjoy himself. I really didn’t hear that he ever asked for me.”
It has been over 20 years now, but Anthony just has not gotten over the fact that the Pistons selected Milicic over him with the second pick of the 2003 NBA Draft. Here is what the 39-year-old told Wade about what happened when he heard that Milicic was having a workout with the Pistons.
“As we hearing it about Darko, oh we shoot to Detroit,” Anthony said. “We got to go find where Darko was working out. We got to get to it D-Wade. We got to find him, man. Where they hiding him at? We going to work out with him. We pulling up. They was ducking, they was hiding. (I was told), ‘No, no he’s not in that gym.’ Bro, where’s he at?”
Anthony says no one would tell him where Milicic was.
“This kid is working out for Detroit Pistons, so somebody know where this kid is at,” Anthony continued. “We gonna find him. We going to every gym… We want Darko. We want to work out.”
When Wade asked what exactly Anthony planned to do when they found Milicic, he stated he wanted to show he was better.
“To show I’m the No. 2, I might be the No. 1 pick is what I’m saying,” Anthony stated. “So I gotta prove that… So yeah, I gotta find this guy. Wherever he is at, I gotta get to him, I got to play him, I got to show what time it is with these scouts.”
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Anthony also revealed that the Pistons had canceled his workout with them as they focused on Milicic. Ultimately, he never found the Serbian and wasn’t able to convince the Pistons to pick him.
Now, Milicic says he never heard about Anthony looking for him, but it is possible both men are telling the truth. Anthony could have been looking and Milicic just might not have been told about it.
Whatever the case, the Pistons ended up making a massive mistake on draft night, as Milicic never even came close to becoming the player they envisioned him to be. He finished his NBA career with averages of 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game.
Anthony, meanwhile, went down as one of the greatest scorers in recent NBA history. He was a 10-time All-Star with career averages of 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
The only thing missing from his resume is a championship, and he would have had one had the Pistons picked him. They became NBA champions in 2004, and Milicic got a ring as a result of it, despite barely featuring during that campaign. There is also a widespread belief that the Pistons would have won multiple championships had they picked Anthony, and they might well have.
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