Hall of Fame Former Blazer Omits Damian Lillard From List of Favorite Teammates

His picks do make sense, however.

Mar 22, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) brings the ball up the court against the Utah Jazz in the first quarter at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Former Portland Trail Blazers power forward Carmelo Anthony surprisingly omitted fellow future Hall of Famer Damian Lillard when forced to pick his favorite-ever NBA teammates.

On a recent episode of his show "7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & The Kid Mero," the 6-foot-7 swingman out of Syracuse opted to pick two long-time colleagues who between them made exactly one All-Star team.

“I think out of all the teammates, it would have to be, I would say, it would have to be J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin because that’s who was on my team for the longest of all of our years. We was in Denver. We was here in New York,” Anthony said. “We spent a lot of time together to the point where it’s like, I don’t even have to look at you, and you know what type of mode I’m in. You know what I’m about to do. You know, you see it ahead of time.”

Smith, a 17-year small forward/shooting guard who won titles with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, logged 536 games combined with Anthony between their tenures with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks. Martin, a 15-year power forward/center who made the aforementioned single All-Star game, notched 392 games alongside Anthony. Both played with the future first-ballot Hall of Famer for nine seasons apiece.

Anthony, who enjoyed a 19-year career as one of the all-time great three-level scoring forwards, was a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA Teamer during his prime with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, for whom he played from 2003-2017.

By the time he arrived in Portland at the start of the 2019-20 season, he was a floor-spacing role player, but still a starter. By the time he departed the Trail Blazers, he had been demoted into a gig as a bench change-of-pace shooter. He finished seventh in Sixth Man of the Year voting during that 2020-21 season.

During his two seasons in Portland, Anthony averaged 14.3 points on .425/.399/.867 shooting splits, 4.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks a night.

Lillard may be a better player than either Smith or Martin was historically, but clearly Anthony's extended time logged with both those vets had more value to him than his two-year stint with the eight-time All-Star. Anthony also enjoyed his best playoff successes with Martin and Smith, advancing as far as the 2009 Western Conference Finals in Denver and the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals in New York.

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