NBA journeyman Carmelo Anthony will become teammates with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers squad, and it will happen soon, a former champion and current basketball analyst says.
John Salley, who won two championships with the Detroit Pistons and one each with the Chicago Bulls and Lakers in the 1980s and ’90s, said with assurance that Anthony will sign with the Lakers before the NBA All-Star break in February.
TMZ said Sally added a wink at the cameraman to suggest he has the inside scoop on the much-talked-about landing spot for Anthony. Rumors have swirled for years about the efforts the two players have made to hook up on the same team, so this statement by Salley will not seem far-fetched to NBA fans.
Initially, Salley, 54, tried to deny he knew anything about the matter. But after probing harder, Salley relented and said Carmelo, the husband of “Power” star La La Anthony, will join the Lakers in order to compete for the first title of his illustrious NBA career.
Salley remains friends with Lakers’ legend Magic Johnson, a Hall of Famer and five-time Lakers champion who is now the VP of the Lakers. Therefore, Sally would be privy to prospective deals before they come to fruition.
Anthony, 34, had signed a one-year deal with the Houston Rockets before the season started. But that was a certified disaster and he didn’t even last a full month with the team. Before that, Anthony spent seven productive but controversial years with the New York Knicks.
LeBron, 33, and Dwyane Wade, 36, wanted to hook up with Anthony when LBJ took his “talents to South Beach” and the Miami Heat in 2010. There, James and Wade went to four consecutive championship series, winning two of them. James also got a title when he returned to the Cleveland Cavs. The lack of a championship remains a huge void in Anthony’s résumé, though he won a title in college with Syracuse.
Anthony, also called “Melo” and “C-Melo,” and King James entered the league in 2003 as two of the most ballyhooed players of this era. They also were teammates on the 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams. Both are considered locks for the Hall of Fame.
