Carmelo Anthony realized the time was finally right to join forces with his friend LeBron James. Whether James and the veteran-led Los Angeles Lakers can help Anthony win his first NBA championship remains to be seen. “Most people will say we should have gotten together years ago, early in our career, but we were on two different paths. It just felt like right now was the best time,” Anthony said.
He and James have known each other since high school and were part of the star-studded 2003 draft class. James went first overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers out of high school, while Anthony was the third pick by the Denver Nuggets after leading Syracuse to its first NCAA title. “Bron came to me and said the time is now and that we have to make it happen,” Anthony said. “I took my time with it and weighed my options.”
James won a pair of championships in Miami with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, who went fourth and fifth to the Toronto Raptors and Heat, respectively, in 2003. He added two more titles with Cleveland in 2016 and LA last year. Anthony’s teams, meanwhile, have gone 3-13 in playoff series, and the closest he got to a title was a trip to the Western Conference finals with Denver in 2009.
