While surfing his Instagram, Damian Lillard stumbled upon an old photo of Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant. Back in 2006, during the All-Star weekend in Houston, one of the most iconic photos of all time was clicked. Sharing @timelesssports’ post to his Instagram Story, Lillard posed a rather fitting request to his former Blazers teammate, Anthony.
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Following the All-Star Game, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Carmelo Anthony were clicked together. The four superstars shared the frame with two other legends – Moses Malone and Cynthia Cooper. Even though the exact year of the picture is unknown, in all probability, it was clicked somewhere around the early to mid-2000s.
Sharing the post, Damian Lillard made sure that he got his former teammate – Carmelo Anthony – to frame the photo. Resharing the post and tagging Anthony in his Story, the Milwaukee Bucks star wrote,
Frame this Mel @carmeloanthony
Despite never winning the coveted NBA championship, Carmelo Anthony had a distinguished 19-year career. Towards the end of it, the 6ft 7” star spent two seasons representing the Portland Trail Blazers. During his tenure with the Blazers, Melo shared the locker room with Lillard. In those two years, elite shooters made a special bond.
Carmelo Anthony spoke about his relationship with Damian Lillard
Carmelo Anthony has taken on the hardwood with several superstars as his teammates. Damian Lillard is merely one of them. While Melo wasn’t in the prime of his prowess, during his stint as Dame’s teammate, the latter left him impressed.
Back in 2021, during an appearance on ‘All The Smoke’ podcast, the 10-time All-Star spoke about Dame’s character. Apart from appreciating the sharpshooter for displaying faith in him, Anthony also lauded Lillard for being a great athlete & human being.
“Dame is a real one because Dame always knew like, ‘Man we don’t care about what nobody else is saying. We know you can play. I know you can play, I see you, I talk to you’… I always told myself Dame will always go down as one of my top dogs. Forget basketball. Like as a human being, it don’t get better than that,” Anthony said.
Even Dame has often showered Melo with praises. Back in 2020, after the latter recorded a 15-point and 11-rebound double-double against the Houston Rockets, Lillard claimed that Anthony had a career capable of getting him into the Hall-Of-Fame. Further, the Portland leader clapped back at all detractors who criticized Anthony.
“I find it real funny and disrespectful the way people speak on Melo,” Lillard said. “He’s a Hall of Famer.”
Earlier this off-season, Melo even dished out advice to Damian Lillard. Before the 6ft 2” guard decided to join the Milwaukee Bucks, the legend urged Lillard to demand a trade. Being the greatest that the league has seen, it’s great to see the two share a mentor-mentee relationship.
