Carmelo Anthony Turned Down A Post-Lakers Free Agent Bid

Former Los Angeles forward Carmelo Anthony turned down a chance to come back to the NBA after his Lakers tenure.

One of the more disappointing seasons in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers also had them rostering one of the more exciting players from the past 20 years. During the 2021-22 NBA season, the Lakers missed the playoffs despite having multiple Hall-of-Famers on the team.

To be fair, many of them were past their prime but the Lakers vastly underperformed. One of those players was former NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony, who finally made his way over to the purple and gold.

After years of tormenting the Lakers and being a playoff rival, Anthony finally joined the team for a title run. Things didn't work out well and after the season, Anthony never returned to the league.

But it has now come out that was due to him choosing to not return to the NBA. During an episode of his podcast 7PM in Brooklyn, Anthony revealed that he had discussions with the New York Knicks to join them again.

“We sat down and had a real conversation. ‘Listen, here’s a spot. You can be on the team tomorrow, but this is the spot,” Anthony said. “The not knowing of when you’re going to play and not play—I’d rather not go through that,” Anthony said. “I’mma bow out gracefully. … Basketball ain’t the issue. I can’t do that. That’s a hell of a decline. When I look at it overall, the overall big picture, that’s a hell of a decline. So I just had to stand on that. No disrespect, but I can’t accept that.“

Anthony hinted at him having to take a lower spot on the roster and he decided that it wasn't for him. The last time he was on the Knicks, he was a star. While his time as a star player had been gone for years, he also likely didn't want to ruin the memory that he built with the Knicks.

The former No. 3 overall pick returning to the Knicks would have been an incredible story as he became a legend while with New York. He was beloved by the Knicks fans and a reunion would have set things on fire in New York.

In his lone season with the Lakers, Anthony averaged 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game. He appeared in 69 games for Los Angeles and put the finishing touches on what was a legendary career.

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