Players from the same draft class are often referred to in the same breath over the course of history. Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon, Stephen Curry and James Harden, Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant, etc are some examples that come to mind.
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The 2003 draft class is one that gave the league multiple such connections too. Three-quarters of the ‘Banana Boat Crew’ was introduced to the NBA by this legendary draft and they found common ground throughout the duration of their NBA careers.
Carmelo Anthony couldn’t team up with Wade and Bron at their Miami union. However, that doesn’t mean he was involved in any free agency drama of his own. While he didn’t have quite the “Decision”, Anthony’s free agency decisions were also the talk of the town.
And who better to talk about and defend Anthony in this topic, than his friend, LeBron James?
LeBron James gestured to Carmelo Anthony to not talk about free agency to the media.
Having jerseys burnt and having his hometown hate on him definitely left a bad taste in James. King James, notorious for his free agency drama came to his friend’s defense in front of a big media crew.
The superstar reminded the media that his fellow all-star’s situation had to be respected. After all, Anthony was still contracted to the Denver Nuggets, playoff candidates from the West, at the time.
“This guy is traveling every day, he has to play. He still has to represent the Denver Nuggets the right way and still listen to you guys every single day. ‘What is he doing?’, ‘Where is he going?’. He knows just as much as you guys. He has to see you guys every day. I don’t have to see y’all in the offseason’ said James as he defended his fellow draftee.
While the harassment did continue, Anthony, however, did not indulge in free agency drama per se during his career. Instead, it was in the trade market where the star found his headlines.
Carmelo Anthony was traded twice while he was an NBA player.
Although questions surrounding his free agency as a Nugget were the topic for the media here, that never materialized further. Anthony did re-sign with the Nuggets, but, was traded later.
And the trade to the Knicks was quite a controversial affair that had a lot of build-ups too. The media got their moment to feast with Anthony, and this wasn’t the only time that happened.
A subsequent trade to the Thunder followed, which was also subject to much media attention. Later, free agency decisions became the talk of the town too, but not in the same light. It wasn’t the stardom of Anthony that drove such talk. It was his eventual decline that prompted such discourse, instead.
