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Carmelo Anthony is no longer with the Portland Trail Blazers, but the future NBA Hall of Fame will always have a love for Rip City.
When he left the Blazers this summer to sign a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony wrote a heartfelt message to Portland thanking the city and the organization for allowing him to love basketball again. -ball.
Anthony, 37, joined Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports on his podcast, “Posted Up with Chris Haynes” to discuss his new memoir, “Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised,” and revealed details about his agency process. free and what made him leave the Pacific Northwest.
Haynes asked Anthony which teams he was considering signing with before picking the Lakers. This led to the 10-time All-Star explaining why he didn’t sign again with the Blazers, where he rejuvenated his NBA career after a brief and disastrous stint at Houston.
“I ended up like sitting and waiting in Portland,” Anthony explained, “and I was like you know, I don’t wanna talk to anybody yet and see what Portland is up to, you know, see what happens, see what they say. I was talking to Dame (Damian Lillard), CJ (McCollum) You know, we always talk, we don’t just talk about this, but I was just waiting to see like OK, will they call? Are they interested? I haven’t heard anything, do they want to take me back? Do they want to move on? I know they have a new coach. I’m sure there was a lot going on there -low that just wasn’t clear. But yeah, I was waiting for that to see what was going to happen on this. You know that. I made it almost like a home for myself. In two years, I felt like I was part of this community.
The Blazers initially signed Anthony as a free agent in 2019 and it paid dividends for both sides. Anthony showed off his murderous shot that made him a superstar for years and played a key role for the Blazers in the NBA bubble. Anthony ended up re-signing with the Blazers in 2020, where he spent another season contributing to Portland as a bench shooter and veteran presence.
Anthony was asked by Haynes if Portland had ever responded to him during free agency.
“They didn’t, no they didn’t answer me like I thought they were going to answer me,” Anthony said. “But again, honestly, I wasn’t expecting it.”
Anthony further expressed his desire to stay in Portland but understood the Blazers wanted to head in a different direction.
“I didn’t want to leave Dame, I didn’t want to leave CJ and these guys,” Anthony said. “I know the gambling business, I know the sports business. I know what it is, Chris. I know the inside.
Anthony then went on to recall the conversations he had with Lillard at the end of the season about the former Weber State star being at a crossroads with the Blazers franchise. In Denver and New York, Anthony faced a difficult position similar to that of Lillard, being the cornerstone of a franchise but hoping for better success towards a championship.
“Our conversation was never like ‘Dude, I’m getting out of here’, you know what I’m saying? Since Lady is Portland,” Anthony said. “And it will always be Portland.”
Anthony continued, “I understand. I come to him as someone who has been in this situation – a few times, not once. A few times in different places. So we never talked about his leaving. He never mentioned leaving. What he talked about was “I want to win” and “I want to do it here in Portland”, but if that doesn’t work, it won’t work. And I think that’s the battle he’s fighting. He wants to win, and he wants to be in Portland. But I know he’s thinking, “Am I going to win here? Everyone says the same thing. “
Lillard, 31, has spent his entire career with the Trail Blazers and is in the first year of a contract extension he signed with the franchise. Lillard expressed concern this summer with the Blazers management and wondered if there was enough urgency to win a championship. This resulted in his name being linked to business rumors.
While in Portland, Anthony averaged 14.3 points per game for the Blazers while shooting 43% from field and 40% from depth. He rose to No. 10 on the NBA’s career top scorers list in May.
– Aron Yohannes
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