Tag: Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony thinks JJ Redick can succeed coaching the Lakers

Plenty are skeptical JJ Redick could successfully coach the Lakers without any coaching experience, but Carmelo Anthony disagrees.

As the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason creeps closer to the NBA’s free agency period, there is a growing feeling JJ Redick will be hired to be their next head coach.

He has virtually no coaching experience of any kind, but some believe he is shrewd and knowledgeable when it comes to the game of basketball. He has exhibited his basketball IQ as a member of ESPN’s NBA broadcast crew and as LeBron James’ co-host on the “Mind the Game” podcast.

Plenty of people are skeptical Redick can succeed as the Lakers’ head coach, given his lack of experience and his relationship with James. But Carmelo Anthony, who played on the Lakers alongside James two seasons ago, said on “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & The Kid Mero” he thinks Redick can make it work (h/t Lakers Nation).

“In this particular situation, JJ has been away from the game. So he’s able to gather this information a study the game and watch the game and talk to coaches and talk to GMs and go sit in in these training camps and understand the formulas of everybody. It’s almost the Steve Kerr path. … Because I know the mind of (LeBron James), and if you got a mind on the intellectual standard, we gonna get along. But the minute that you start thinking that you know more than me, we got a problem. I ain’t gonna say nothing to you, but I’m gonna let you shoot yourself in the foot. Right, so to me, I think JJ, I (expletive) with it because I think JJ has an opportunity. It’s just about what opportunity that he has. Because we need new culture, we need new energy in those seats.”

Perhaps Redick does have the making of a great head coach. However, it is extremely rare for someone to immediately become one without first being an assistant.

Kerr did so with the Golden State Warriors nine years ago. However, that team had a clear leadership structure, not to mention the personnel to win an NBA championship. If Redick isn’t able or willing to hold James accountable, it could turn into a messy affair.

One quality Anthony didn’t mention is having the requisite leadership skills and knowing how to handle huge egos. Sometimes the only real way for an aspiring head coach to learn those skills is to be an assistant for a little while and witness an experienced and capable head coach do his thing.

Then there is the matter of the inherent pressure and scrutiny of coaching the Lakers. Coaching the Warriors, a team that had long been a laughingstock and had last won it all in 1975 when Kerr took over in 2014, doesn’t compare.

Watch this! Carmelo Anthony’s son, Kiyan Anthony, produces some dazzling highlight

Kiyan Anthony had a strong showing at the Nike EYBL.

Top 50 recruit Kiyan Anthony certainly had a good weekend at the Nike EYBL, showing off his ability as a playmaker who can get to the rim efficiently and explosively. The son of former NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony, the growth of Kiyan Anthony continues to be impressive.

So far this season, Kiyan Anthony is averaging 19.0 points per game which puts him in the top 15 nationally in the Nike EYBL.

A class of 2025 recruit, Kiyan Anthony is a four-star guard from Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, New York). The 6-foot-5 prospect is the No. 37 player in the 247Sports Composite and the top-ranked player in New York in his class.

He currently holds offers from Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Syracuse (where his father played and developed into the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft) among other schools involved in his recruitment.

 

Over the weekend, Anthony showed the ability to pull apart defenses on the dribble. He also showcased some excellent shooting range and his toughness in getting to the rim.

Knicks fans loved alumni like Carmelo Anthony celebrating a playoff win at Madison Square Garden

This was an AWESOME atmosphere in New York.

During New York’s comeback victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, some of the greatest Knicks of all time attended.

A few of the most legendary players to ever suit up in the history of the franchise all went to Madison Square Garden for Game 2 of the opening round against the 76ers in the Eastern Conference postseason.

That includes Carmelo Anthony, John Starks, Latrell Sprewell, Larry Johnson, Tim Thomas, and more. All of these New York legends helped create an amazing playoff atmosphere on Monday night.

Their presence helped get the fans excited but the former players, who created an Alumni Row of sorts, seemed thrilled as well.

Folks seemed genuinely thrilled to have these familiar faces back in the building.

Some of the best moments from New York

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Victor Wembanyama refused to join Drake on stage at a concert unless his teammates could too

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.

Here is what he said:

“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.

RELATED: 7 athletes Drake brought out on the It’s All A Blur tour, including LeBron and Bronny

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.

Here is what he told The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor:

“I feel like I’m immune … Distractions like partying, alcohol, drugs, whatever. Like, why would I ever do that?”

Wembanyama is truly one-of-one and unlike any player we have ever seen before in the NBA.

He has a disciplined focus and mindset that will continue to get him far in this league.

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Carmelo Anthony on potential ‘missing piece’ for Victor Wembanyama

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.

During a recent edition of “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero,” Anthony and the rest of the podcast discussed what the missing piece could for Wembanyama.

What sort of improvements should Wembanyama look to make moving forward? How can a guy with his skillset get even better?

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Carmelo Anthony said Lakers had a done deal to acquire him in 2011

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.

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 George Karl calling Carmelo Anthony overrated

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.

 

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.

‘It’s the best-ran organization’: Carmelo Anthony praises OKC Thunder

‘It’s 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.

“It’s 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 didn’t hit those marks, we knew we wasn’t doing our best. If we didn’t hit the marks, Billy Donovan wasn’t coming in there talking to us, it was Sam Presti. … He has no ill intentions in any of this. He wants what’s best for the player and he really cares about what goes on.”

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.

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Carmelo Anthony reacts to son Kiyan saying he could beat 16-year-old Melo

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.

Related: Kiyan Anthony signs NIL deal with PSD

The Nuggets weren’t being petty by letting Nikola Jokic wear No. 15 after Carmelo Anthony

No. 15 belongs to Nikola Jokic now. Sorry, Melo.

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.” 

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. “This is where it should be retired, to be honest with you,” Anthony said. “Just my opinion, man. The history is here. This is where it all started. Maybe not because Joker’s got 15 now. We’ll 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.

Shootaround

— LeBron James and Jungkook are a combo that I never knew I needed to see. Thank you, Usher. Meghan Hall has more here.

— Paige Bueckers might not be so quick to make the jump to the WNBA folks. We’ll see.

— Here are the players to keep watch on this WNBA offseason. Here’s Meghan, again, with more.

That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with us today. Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the basketball! Let’s chat again next week.

-Sykes ✌️