Victor Wembanyama showed incredible loyalty to his teammates.
During his tour last year, Drake brought several athletes to join him on stage at his concerts. Victor Wembanyama, however, was not one of them.
According to JJ Redick, who recently appeared on 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero, explained why the NBA Rookie of the Year frontrunner wasn’t one of those players.
“There was a Drake concert in Austin and he got asked to come up on stage because Drake was doing that with a bunch of NBA guys this offseason. And Wemby was like: Can my teammates come up on stage with me? Because they are going to be at the concert with me. And Drake’s camp was like: No. And he’s like: Then I don’t want to do it … What 19-year-old kid doesn’t want to go up on stage with Drake?”
Remember, at the point of Drake’s concert, Wembanyama hadn’t even played any preseason games for the San Antonio Spurs yet.
So that is incredible loyalty from the 2023 NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick toward players he had never even officially gone to battle with yet.
Wembanyama, however, is built different both on and off the court. In another recent interview, for example, he explained why he never drinks or does drugs.
"I feel like I'm immune to the … distractions like partying, alcohol, drugs. Like, why would I ever do that? I don't have nothing to compensate for."
Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony recently discussed what the potential “missing piece” could be for San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.
The San Antonio Spurs have a chance to be special with Victor Wembanyama at the helm. It’s just his rookie season, and Wembanyama already looks like one of the best players in the league. The talent he’s displayed on the court leaves room for the belief that he could help lead the Spurs to titles in the same manner Tim Duncan and company did.
On defense, he’s one of the most unique players in the league, able to block shots from places that no one else can. And on offense, his skillset makes him nearly impossible to guard. But still, there’s room for improvement.
According to Carmelo Anthony, he was on the verge of playing with his good friend Kobe Bryant on the Lakers back in 2011.
During the 2010-11 season, the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were starting to show some signs of slippage. While they held a strong record, they had a habit of going on short winning streaks, only to then lose two, three or four games in a row.
They were often strangely uninspired, and they were losing an alarming number of games to some of the league’s worst teams.
Some new blood was needed, and according to Carmelo Anthony, that winter, the Lakers had a trade agreement in place with the Denver Nuggets, the team he played for at the time, before he was ultimately sent to the New York Knicks.
Denver Nuggets had a deal done to send Carmelo Anthony to the Lakers in 2011đł
"The deal was done with the Lakers. Me and NenĂȘ for Lamar Odom and Bynum. That deal was done. I never thought about New York⊠When they turned that deal down, now it's like: Oh, y'all don't want me⊠pic.twitter.com/7z0EeX4Mzo
Back then, Anthony was one of the game’s greatest scorers, and he seemingly had 1,001 ways to score. He was good friends with Kobe Bryant, and perhaps the two would’ve formed a lethal trio along with Hall of Famer Pau Gasol.
The Lakers ended up getting swept in the second round of the playoffs that year by the Dallas Mavericks. Months later, they attempted to reload by putting together a deal for Chris Paul, only to have it rejected by then-commissioner David Stern, who was the New Orleans Hornets’ acting owner at the time.
As it turned out, Anthony got his chance to suit up for the Purple and Gold years later during the 2021-22 season. However, by then, he was clearly over the hill, and although he quickly became popular among Lakers fans, that season turned out to be his swan song in the NBA.
Social media reacts to former UNC player turned NBA head coach George Karl calling Carmelo Anthony overrated.
Many damaged coach-player relationships have existed in sports, but none has had the amount of bad blood like former UNC player turned NBA coach [autotag]George Karl[/autotag] and [autotag]Carmelo Anthony[/autotag].
Karl coached Anthony for the Denver Nuggets, and ever since their breakup that saw Anthony get traded to the New York Knicks, the two have shared jabs. Well, we now have a bit more insight into what went wrong between the two, with Anthony describing how everything went wrong as soon as Karl was hired for the head coaching job.
Karl already had a coaching career that spoke for itself with 16 seasons already under his belt, including the 90s Seattle Sonics team led by Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and Sam Perkins. However, never getting the ultimate prize of an NBA championship, Karl had plenty to prove and was paired up with the 3rd overall pick to get that job done.
Anthony revealed on his Podcast that in the first meeting with Karl, he called him overrated. Karl confirmed this story on the X platform while sharing the viral snippet.
Hey @carmeloanthony letâs not do this. Youâre telling stories that are 20 years old. Letâs move fwd đȘ
And u were overrated and u wish your game was as efficient as Detlefâs. đ
The wild exchange sent social media into a frenzy, with hoop fans taking sides between the two. Since posting the snippet Friday, it has garnered more than 5 million views.
Let’s take a look at how social media reacted to Karl calling Anthony overrated.
‘Itâs the best-ran organization’: Carmelo Anthony praises OKC Thunder.
Over the years, the Oklahoma City Thunder have built a reputation of being one of the most player-friendly franchises in the league.
Considering they’re a small-market team, OKC must do this to build advantages when it comes to attracting free agents. While he wasn’t technically a free agent, Carmelo Anthony had to waive his no-trade clause to join the Thunder in 2018.
Anthony capped a wild offseason for the Thunder, who also traded for Paul George to provide help for reigning MVP Russell Westbrook. While the 2017-18 squad struggled — they went 48-34 and lost in the first round — that didn’t affect Anthony’s viewpoint on the organization.
In an appearance on “7PM in Brooklyn,” Anthony discussed his time with the Thunder and why their treatment of players is so special.
âItâs the best-ran organization when it comes to understanding the needs of players and understanding how to communicate with players and hold players accountable,” Anthony said. “… (Sam Presti) worked with us, but he gave us our marks. If we didnât hit those marks, we knew we wasnât doing our best. If we didnât hit the marks, Billy Donovan wasnât coming in there talking to us, it was Sam Presti. ⊠He has no ill intentions in any of this. He wants whatâs best for the player and he really cares about what goes on.â
This is a pretty strong endorsement from one of the most recognized players in recent league history. The multitime All-Star’s encouraging words are just the latest example of how clean OKC’s reputation is with players.
Anthony spent one season with the Thunder. He averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in his lone year in OKC before being shipped off to the Atlanta Hawks and subsequently bought out.
Who was better at age 16: Carmelo or Kiyan Anthony? The high schooler thinks he would fry Melo at this age, but the dad isn’t so sure.
Carmelo Anthony is one of the most storied basketball players of the 21st century. He led Syracuse to a national championship, won three gold medals for the U.S. Olympics men’s basketball team, and is an all-time top-10 NBA scorer.
His son Kiyan, at age 16, said he would beat a 16-year-old Melo.
Kiyan Anthony is a three-to-four-star guard at Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.), ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 41 player in the class of 2025. He has helped Long Island earn placement in the national rankings, as the team is 12-2 as of Jan. 27.
In an interview on Tiktok, he was asked if he would beat Melo at his age.
“I’m frying him,” Kiyan responded. “He wasn’t nice until he was 17.”
Anthony watched the video on a recent episode of his 7PM In Brooklyn and responded with humor, laughing as he said, “are you s******* me?
He got moderately serious as he gave respect to Kiyan for believing such a thing.
“I’m (expletive) with the fact that he believes it,” Melo said. “He exudes that confidence.”
But Melo disagrees.
“So, no, (expletive) out of here, Ky,” he said. “I’m speaking to my son, so I don’t want to curse, but… (expletive) out of here.”
As a junior, Anthony averaged 23 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for Towson Catholic High School, according to his Syracuse bio, and was named the all-metro player of the year by the Baltimore Sun as he led his team to a 28-9 season. He then transferred to Oak Hill Academy for his senior season, during which he was a McDonald’s All-American.
So it may be a challenge for Kiyan to beat a same-age-Melo. But the elder Anthony gave his son props nonetheless.
“He got some (expletive) at 16 that I wouldn’t even fathom doing at 16,” Melo said.
Watch the full video of Anthony’s reaction above, and see some of Kiyan’s highlights from summer play below.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you have an excellent weekend ahead of you. We’ve got lots of MLK Day hoops on Monday, too! Should be fun.
Let’s talk about Carmelo Anthony for a second. And, actually, Nikola Jokic, too.
These two Denver Nuggets legends are linked by a single number: Fifteen. Both of them wore No. 15 during their time in Denver. Anthony’s time is over. Jokic is still carving out his illustrious career while gracing the number they share.
For whatever reason, though, the fact that they share this number seems to bother Anthony just a tad bit.
Most recently, Anthony was asked about it on his “7 pm in Brooklyn” podcast by his co-host, The Kid Mero. He thinks the Nuggets were being “petty” and just gave Jokic No. 15 after he left.
“It was a petty maneuver. It wasn’t like ‘yo, we’ve got numbers to choose from.’ It was like ‘here, you’ve got 15’,” Anthony said. “He could’ve wore it just because he wanted to pay homage. I don’t know. But what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did.”Â
I’ve got to be honest. I just don’t buy that. It doesn’t logically make sense when you think about it.
Nikola Jokic has worn No. 15 with the Nuggets for his entire career. Don’t forget, folks: He was drafted as a mid-second-round pick by the Nuggets in 2014. I can’t fathom the Nuggets thinking that he’d be this good. I don’t know if they thought he could “erase” Anthony’s history in Denver, as he says here.
Now, did they show a lack of concern for Anthony’s time there by allowing someone else to wear it? Sure! I can buy that. I mean, even before Jokic wore it, the Nuggets allowed Anthony Randolph to wear it. The number just wasn’t a big deal to Denver.
And why would it be? Denver wasn’t thinking about extending a courtesy to the guy who forced his way out of the city. To be honest, that’s totally fair. Anthony wasn’t owed that. He still isn’t.
It’s clear, though, that he’d like the number retired in his name. He said as much back in 2019 in The Athletic. âThis is where it should be retired, to be honest with you,â Anthony said. âJust my opinion, man. The history is here. This is where it all started. Maybe not because Jokerâs got 15 now. Weâll see.”
The number certainly will be retired someday, but it certainly won’t be in Anthony’s name. Jokic is a two-time MVP and a champion. He’s been a better Denver Nugget with a better overall career. That’s his to own now.
Carmelo will always hold a special place in a lot of NBA fans’ hearts. But that’s something he’s going to have to accept.
Draft Day(s)
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Well, folks. The NBA has done it. The NBA draft will reportedly be two days this summer. The league will do the first round on one day and the second round on the next, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Here’s more:
“Among a number of reasons for the expansion of the event, including the programming for television rights partners, the NBA and teams are hopeful that the hours between Wednesday night’s first round and Thursday’s second round will give teams more time to make trades and plan out strategies for the second night.”
As our Bryan Kalrbosky writes here, not many fans were thrilled about this news. That second day is probably not going to be very interesting.
There are some ways the league could potentially spice this up moving forward. For example, what if the NBA did the lottery on Thursday and then knocked out the rest of the draft early on Friday? That might give the second day a bit more juice while also keeping the first day spicy.
We’ll have to wait and see how this works. Hopefully, the NBA can find a way to keep things interesting.
We’re looking at takeaways and observations from the Baltimore Ravens 34-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson accounted for 318+ yards and two touchdowns as the Ravens offense exploded on the ground and through the air for over 400+ total yards, and Todd Monken’s best game as offensive coordinator.
Baltimore improved to 8-3 on the season and will have ten days of rest before traveling to Los Angeles to play Justin Herbert and the Chargers after a 34-20 win over the Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium.
We’re looking at the top photos from the Baltmore Ravens 34-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football in Week 11
The Baltimore Ravens improved to 8-3 on the season and will have ten days of rest before traveling to Los Angeles to play Justin Herbert and the Chargers after a 34-20 win over the Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson accounted for 318+ yards and two touchdowns as the Ravens offense exploded on the ground and through the air for over 400+ total yards, and Todd Monken’s best game as offensive coordinator.
Baltimore was able to reverse the time of possession, maintaining the football for nine more minutes while going 3-4 in the red zone.
With the team off for the next ten days, here’s an instant analysis of the Ravens’ huge home win.
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We’re looking at the instant analysis of the Baltimore Ravens 34-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11
The Baltimore Ravens improved to 8-3 on the season and will have ten days of rest before traveling to Los Angeles to play Justin Herbert and the Chargers after a 34-20 win over the Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson accounted for 318+ yards and two touchdowns as the Ravens offense exploded on the ground and through the air for over 400+ total yards, and Todd Monken’s best game as offensive coordinator.
Baltimore was able to reverse the time of possession, maintaining the football for nine more minutes while going 3-4 in the red zone.
With the team off for the next ten days, here’s an instant analysis of the Ravens’ huge home win.
