Carmelo Anthony includes 2 Lakers but leaves out LeBron James as he names his all-time starting 5

While Carmelo Anthony is a close friend of his new Los Angeles Lakers teammate LeBron James, he surprisingly left James off the starting five of his all-time 12-man roster.

Anthony appeared on the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast and ended up choosing a pair of legendary Lakers for his first team in Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant. In addition to adding Kevin Garnett and Hakeem Olajuwon to the list, he rounded off his starting five by including himself.

James, along with other close friends Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, made up 60 percent of the second unit, while Kevin Durant and former Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal made up the other 40 percent of that group.

Anthony then closed out his team with a pair of Philadelphia 76ers legends in Julius Erving and Allen Iverson.

The subjective list is likely to be dismissed by basketball experts, in part because of Anthony’s inclusion of himself among the starters on his roster.

What may be more interesting is James’ reaction, considering how close the duo has been since being drafted among the top three picks in the 2003 NBA Draft.

In truth, James is among the greatest players of all time, so it seems unlikely that Anthony’s list will somehow downgrade his lofty status in NBA history. For now, James is focused on getting the Lakers prepared for the 2020-21 with the start of the team’s training camp coming next week.