LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony- A Bond Greater than Basketball
Feb 4, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) hugs Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) prior to their game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
The 2003 NBA Draft was headlined by LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, and it forever changed the NBA.
They were two franchise changing players. Although everybody knew that James was a once in a lifetime player, people said that Carmelo Anthony was actually ready to play right now and was actually better than LeBron James.
Every game that they played in early in their career saw their stats being compared to each other and in their rookie season it was James who took home the rookie of the year award. Even though they were deemed to be rivals in the eyes of the media, they were actually friends off the court and they formed a friendship that would go beyond basketball.
James and Anthony met for the first time in a meaningful game when they were in high school. LeBron played for St.Vincent-St. Mary and Anthony played for Oak Hill Academy. Anthony won that matchup 72-66 while dropping 34 points and James had 36.
High school was where James would build his respect for Anthony and they would later carry that friendship into the NBA.
Feb 4, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) drives to the basket past Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
The Two Stars Within the NBA
Anthony made the playoffs first out of the two, making it in their rookie season but he has had playoff struggles and that is what ultimately has risen LeBron over Anthony with James being in the finals six straight times.
Anthony has never played in the finals but has went to the conference finals once in 2009.
LeBron sent shock waves through the NBA world on July 8, 2010 when he announced what was called The Decision live on ESPN where he announced he was instead going to Miami to play with Dwayne Wade instead of coming back to Cleveland.
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He was the most hated sports figure according to some polls and he was scrutinized beyond belief. He did what he set out to accomplish and that was to win rings, and now he has the opportunity to get his friend Carmelo a ring.
I wish I could tell you that if Melo and Knicks parted that it would be a good separation. After the boos heard tonight, I think it was clear to us all that if he didn’t go to Cleveland, it was at least time for him to leave New York.
The Rumors and Their Potential
There are trade rumors that the Knicks are going to try and trade Carmelo to the Cavs in exchange for Kevin Love.
LeBron spoke out about the team trading for his friend and he gave Anthony all his blessings no matter what happens.
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LeBron said, according to Cleveland.com, “I just want the best for my friend no matter what it is. If he’s there in New York or if he’s not, I just want the best for him. I want him to be happy. That’s all that matters. The game comes very easy to you when you’re happy about where you’re at so if he’s happy in New York or wants to be elsewhere, not sure.”
James took a conservative approach when talking about this but he has been on record saying that his team needs a playmaker and he made that well known saying it emphatically and it has stirred some controversy.
The team has been suffering without some backup point guard help because there is nobody to create offense on the second team so James is hoping for some help with the trade deadline coming up.
As the Cavaliers beat the Knicks on ABC last night, it will be even more interesting match up with what happens in the the next coming weeks being that these two teams are in heavy trade talks.
The trade deadline is February 23rd at 3pm eastern time so there is only a couple of weeks left to see what will happen if Anthony stays in New York or if James plays with one of his friends again.
