Carmelo Anthony Heaps Praise On OKC Thunder, Sam Presti
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been wildly successful since moving to town in 2008. In that span, they are viewed as one of the best organizations in the sport for their treatment of players and success on and off the court.
With countless future Hall of Famers gracing the organization's halls, Carmelo Anthony's tenure in Oklahoma City will go down as one of the more interesting stints.
Fresh off Russell Westbrook willing the Thunder to the postseason, taking home the league MVP award, on the heels of Kevin Durant skipping town to team up with the Warriors, Sam Presti made a big splash.
The Thunder general manager was able to trade for then-Pacers star Paul George and Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony in the Summer of 2017. It gave birth to the "OK3" Era, a rollercoaster time that went out like a flaming star in Utah.
While it was only one season in Bricktown, it felt like a lifetime, and the ending was a tad messy before Anthony eventually landed in Portland. The NBA Hall of Famer fondly reflects on his time in Oklahoma City based on the Thunder's treatment of players.
“It’s the best-run organization when it comes to understanding the needs of players and understanding how to communicate with players and hold players accountable… (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.” Anthony said on the 7PM Brooklyn Podcast.
The ten-time All-Star averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 stocks per game. This is a lot of praise to give an organization after spending just 78 games there, but is shows the level of impact Presti and company make on players even during pitstops.
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