“LeBron James just came up and said now is the time”: Carmelo Anthony reveals Lakers superstar’s simple recruiting pitch for the Knicks legend ahead of his 19th NBA season

Carmelo Anthony is in pursuit of the ultimate goal of any NBA player – a championship. And in LeBron James, he has a running mate he can trust.

There isn’t much to be said about the Lakers’ cap situation at the moment. They’ve taken on 3 players who’re all eligible for the supermax if they perform up to All-NBA levels.

In Russell Westbrook, they’ve paired LeBron James with the best point guard partner of his career. James can now finally move off the ball as many basketball fans have been foretelling for the past few years.

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This move could help James extend his dominance as a top NBA player for a few years. Westbrook, by himself, is enough to help most NBA rosters make the playoffs.

The Lakers will be relying on their second unit for scoring a bit more than in past years. GM Rob Pelinka has been busy working behind the scenes. Pelinka’s efforts have helped Los Angeles land a bevy of championship-hungry vets.

Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James have fortuitously teamed up in this fashion after 18 seasons of NBA rivalry. The Banana Boat members will be attempting to get Russ and Melo their first career championships.

“LeBron James just came up and said now is the time”: Carmelo Anthony

Speaking to The Athletic’s Lakers beat writer Bill Oram, Melo clarified that it was indeed Bron who’d reached out to him for what could be ‘The Last Dance’ of sorts for this generation’s best player.

“It wasn’t really no pitch this time. I think it was really just more of an understanding. Like, ‘OK, the time is now. The time is now for both parties to merge, for both parties to agree to come together, and let’s put this thing together.’”

“We never had no conversations about it. Bron just came to me one time and said, ‘Yo, the time is now. I want you. We’ve got to make this happen.’”

“We’ve always talked about it, laughed and joked about it. But I thought and he thought at this moment now, everything comes back full circle for us.”

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