Category: Banana Boat Squad

LeBron James reacts to Carmelo Anthony game-winner: ‘I guess he was washed too’

LeBron James celebrated Tuesday night’s game-winner from his friend Carmelo Anthony of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Game recognize game, and LeBron James has recognized the greatness of his fellow 2003 draftee Carmelo Anthony many times throughout the years. Tuesday night, as Anthony turned back the clock with a game-winner in a 28-point performance in Toronto, was no different as LeBron made sure to give a shout out to his friend moments before his own game against Anthony’s former New York Knicks squad.

LeBron posted a highlight of Anthony’s game-winning jumper over Toronto’s OG Anunoby on his Instagram page, with the comment “I guess he was washed too,” a pretty overt reference to the #WashedKing moniker LeBron has given himself after people doubted his ability to play.

Although LeBron and the Lakers had plenty of doubters this season, James can certainly appreciate what his friend Anthony went through over the past few seasons, with him being out of the NBA for over a year before signing with Portland in November.

James and the Lakers will face off against Anthony and the Trail Blazers again on Jan. 31 at Staples Center.

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Today marks nine years since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade’s iconic photo

The most memorable image of the LeBron James era of the Miami Heat turns nine years old on Friday.

Although Friday night is a highlight anticipated night for lovers of the 2003 NBA Draft as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are set to face off against each other later tonight in Portland, December 6 was already a big day in the history of that draft class and the NBA’s Banana Boaters.

Friday marked the nine-year anniversary of the iconic photo of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade from LeBron’s first season of four in Miami. The photo was taken from a regular season game in Milwaukee but it is hard to beat as the best sports photograph of the decade by Associated Press photographer Morry Gash.

The Heat reached higher heights throughout the LeBron era, winning two championships over four years and four NBA Finals appearances. Wade and James are still close to this day, even though Wade retired from the NBA at the end of last season. Wade recently moved with his family to Los Angeles where his eldest son Zaire is playing high school basketball at Sierra Canyon with LeBron’s eldest son, Bronny Jr.

ESPN makes epic LeBron-Carmelo montage ahead of Lakers-Blazers

The Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers will come second to another match-up between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

As fate would have it, the first game between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in over a year and their 34th NBA meeting overall will be a nationally televised game at 7:30 p.m. pacific time on ESPN.

With the careers of LeBron and Carmelo happening as ESPN became even more dominant in the sports media landscape as the Worldwide Leader, they have a wealth of footage of the two guys together including interviews done with both of them over the years. ESPN put all of that footage to good use for a video they posted on social media Friday morning in advance of Friday’s showdown between two of the three remaining players from the 2003 draft.

Memories will be flooding back for fans and for the participants as well, as the two came in together. But it also has a new meaning now as Anthony has worked his way back from out of the NBA to one of the most inspiring stories in the league, helping spark a Blazers team that was struggling before he arrived to win four of their last five games. Anthony’s contract was also guaranteed for the remainder of the season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

 

LeBron James: Carmelo Anthony’s NBA return is ‘beautiful, hits home’

James has long been an advocate for his friend Carmelo Anthony, but Anthony’s recent comeback managed to inspire the Los Angeles Laker.

LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are set to face off for the 34th time in their intertwined NBA careers on Friday night when the Los Angeles Lakers come to visit Carmelo Anthony and the Portland Trail Blazers in an ESPN-televised affair.

As recently as a month ago, it looked like we would never get Game 34 between the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in the 2003 NBA draft. But since Anthony’s return, he’s helped spark the Trail Blazers to win four of their last five games and he won last week’s Western Conference Player of the Week award after putting up 22 points and seven rebounds per game in a 3-0 week.

The way that Anthony has performed after people “buried” him hits home for the man who cheekily dubs himself “The Washed King,” according to The Athletic’s Bill Oram and Jason Quick.

“It’s like, when people throwing stones on you and trying to bury you alive and you able to rise above that (expletive)?” James said. “That’s amazing. (expletive) kind of hit home. It’s a beautiful thing. Beautiful thing. Only the strong survive.”

Carmelo versus LeBron isn’t what it was in the earlier part of the decade but it’s still pretty incredible after all these years that they’re still going at it. As two of the three remaining members (Kyle Korver is the other) of the 2003 NBA Draft Class, it’s going to be a poignant moment for fans of basketball history no matter how the game goes. And if we get a regular season thriller between the two buddies for old time’s sake, all the better.

How many points per game is Bronny James expected at Sierra Canyon?

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had the Miami Heat from 2010 until 2014. Now, their sons LeBron James Jr. and Zaire Wade have Sierra Canyon.

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LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had the Miami Heat from 2010 until 2014. Now, their sons LeBron James Jr. and Zaire Wade have Sierra Canyon.

The younger generation of the NBA champions will team up to create a powerhouse high school in Southern California. They will have 15 games broadcasted on ESPN during their first season together as high school stars.

As the spotlight shines on these basketball stars with a constant buzz on television and social media, the high school team is given a pro-feel to its coverage. That means there is already an over-under set for how many points per game James will score as a freshman.

Somehow, via BetOnline, that means you can actually put your hard-earned money on the scoring averages of a 15-year-old basketball player.

Considering this is his first year playing at the high school level and he will join a team contending for the state title, the odds are currently at a modest 10.5 points per game.

The over-under for Wade, who is an incoming senior for Sierra Canyon, is 14.5 points per game. Wade averaged 7.7 points per game for his AAU team on the D1 circuit in the Nike EYBL competition.

James and Wade will also be joined by five-star senior shooting guard BJ Boston (Kentucky), four-star senior power forward Terren Frank (TCU), five-star senior small forward Ziaire Williams and five-star sophomore shooting guard Amari Bailey.

Their odds to win the state championship are -300, giving them an implied probability of 75 percent to take home the open division title. They have also won the state title in 2015, 2018 and 2019.

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LeBron James: Seeing Carmelo Anthony warm up in NBA again made me smile

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James caught some emotions after seeing his buddy Carmelo Anthony in warm-ups for Portland Trail Blazers.

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Earlier on Tuesday, LeBron James wasn’t quite sure whether he’d get to see his good friend and fellow 2003 NBA draftee Carmelo Anthony make his return to the NBA in his debut game for the Portland Trail Blazers against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bu with the game airing on NBA TV and there being only four games on the schedule, as well as the Lakers playing 2 1/2  hours after the Blazers and Pelicans tip. With Anthony in the starting line-up, James may very well get to see him live. But just the sight of seeing him in his signature sleeveless hoodie was enough for LeBron to get excited, sharing that excitement on twitter.

Anthony last played an NBA game just over a year ago on Nov. 8, 2019, and with him likely going to the Hall of Fame when his career is finally over, this gives one of the greatest scorers in history the opportunity to leave the game on his own terms. While James is obviously a close friend, it’s clear that his love for the game and appreciation of Anthony’s career has him just as excited as a lot of people are to see Carmelo back on an NBA floor.

 

LeBron ‘looking forward’ to seeing Carmelo Anthony’s Blazers debut

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have a game shortly after Carmelo Anthony makes his debut for the Portland Trail Blazers.

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LeBron James isn’t sure he will be able to catch it but perhaps more than most people in the basketball world, he will be glued to his phone looking for highlights as Carmelo Anthony makes his return to the NBA later this evening as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Anthony and the Blazers, who will be without Damian Lillard on Tuesday night when they face the New Orleans Pelicans, will tip-off about two hours before the Los Angeles Lakers are set to face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center. Because of that, James thinks he’ll just have to settle for the highlights, which is exciting enough for him and several others.

LeBron says he believes Anthony will try to take “full advantage” of the opportunity, according to Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group.

James has been an advocate of Anthony being in the league, even if it ultimately couldn’t happen on the Lakers. Given Anthony Davis’ preference to play power forward as well as the presence of Kyle Kuzma, Anthony’s role on the Lakers would have been too redundant to really make a big difference.

With the Blazers, a team that is both injured and lacking in the front court, the future Hall of Fame forward will get a chance to exit the NBA on his own terms. While LeBron said his career is far from over, after seeing his friend Dwyane Wade retire last season, he’s got to be hoping for Anthony to have a similar ride off into the sunset.

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LeBron James celebrates Carmelo Anthony signing with Trail Blazers

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James celebrated his friend Carmelo Anthony getting back into the NBA on Thursday.

One of the most disappointing teams in the early going of the NBA season made a big move on Thursday night, one that got on the radar of LeBron James as one of his closest friends in the league made his way back into the NBA.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday night that the 4-8 Portland Trail Blazers agreed to bring in 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony, which brought about a response of enthusiasm from NBA fans and of course, the rest of the Banana Boat crew. Dwyane Wade shared his reaction that it was ‘about time’ and LeBron echoed his friend’s tweet.

For those who are wondering, the first game between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony is scheduled for December 6th in Portland when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Portland Trail Blazers. They will also play each other about three weeks after that in Portland on Dec. 28.

After it looked for nearly a year like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony would never play on the same court again, that chance will come sooner than anybody expected.

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