Carmelo Anthony was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers to provide the spark the team so badly needed after a 5-9 start to the 2019-20 season. Yet it was surprising to see him take a leadership initiative after being out of the NBA for a full calendar year.
Damian Lillard still remembers his first time in the huddle before the Blazers faced the New Orleans Pelicans last week:
“He just took over the huddle,” Lillard told Jason Quick of The Athletic. “I was like, ‘This is good.’ He came in and established his presence. The team needs to hear another voice; I think it was good for the team to hear it.”
Anthony had been with the team for less than 24 hours but knew the team needed a different voice than that of Lillard and CJ McCollum; the Blazers' All-Star backcourt.
“He pretty much said, ‘I know I’m new here but I’m not new to this game. I’ve been around,'” Lillard remembered. “He said, ‘Let’s get back to having fun, let’s not worry about the noise and the outside stuff, winning and losing. Let’s just get back to having fun. Let’s turn this around … and I’m here for y’all.’
“I think that was powerful for the team to hear.”
Anthony didn't script his initial speech, but that it was rather a pure instinct way to break the ice.
“That’s me. That’s who I am, that’s my nature,” said Anthony. “My nature is always to bring guys together, to make sure guys have fun and enjoy this game. Also, I think having a different type of appreciation of the game, having been out of it for a year, and now being able to step back into it and give those guys that energy.”
The Blazers are only 1-3 since acquiring Anthony, but his 25-point vintage game against the Chicago Bulls might just be the spark they need after returning from a tough six-game road trip.
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