After many years, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony will finally be teammates on the same NBA squad this coming season.
The Syracuse University product recounted how James called him to recruit him to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“He did,” Anthony said when asked if James called him. “It was a real call though. It wasn’t like no bulls—. It was a real call. I wasn’t expecting it from him. I mean, we talked about it years before about getting together with each other, but I heard it, and that’s my brother. I’ve known him since we was 15, 16. I heard it, ‘Yo, I need you.’ Say less. You ain’t gotta say nothing. I already know what time it is when you hit me direct. The GM ain’t hit me. You the GM n—-. He hit me. It was like, ‘Yo, champ. The time is now.’”
Both James and Anthony will be entering their 19th seasons in the league. They were the first and third overall picks, respectively, in the famed 2003 NBA Draft that also yielded Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
A couple of years ago, Anthony looked washed after failed stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. The Portland Trail Blazers picked up him, and he reinvented himself as a 3-point specialist.
One of the Lakers’ weaknesses last season was 3-point shooting, and they will be counting on the 37-year-old forward to help shore it up.
In the 2020-21 season, Anthony made 40.9 percent of his attempts from downtown. Unfortunately, it didn’t help his team much, as the Blazers lost in the first round of the playoffs.
This season, Anthony will have an opportunity to attain something that has eluded him throughout his career – an NBA championship.
