Semi-retired NBA forward Carmelo Anthony made an eyebrow-raising appearance on ESPN's First Take on Friday, answering wide-ranging questions surrounding his current team-less status along with past headlines like his 2014 free agency.
Current Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine took to Twitter to defend Anthony, who's been the subject of pervasive debates within hoops circles due to his polarizing style of play and checkered history in the league without extreme postseason success.
LaVine tweeted he respects the “hell” out of Anthony, and his name is “thrown around like he’s not one of the baddest dude to put the ball in the hoop!”.
Respect the hell out of Melo! Been getting his name thrown around like he’s not one of the baddest dude to put the ball in the hoop! And still is💯
— Zach LaVine (@ZachLaVine) August 2, 2019
Anthony told First Take co-host Stephen A. Smith on Friday that he had originally chosen the Bulls as his free agency destination five summers ago before pulling the plug on that idea and instead re-signing with the New York Knicks in hopes to build a championship-contending team in the Big Apple. Now, the current Bulls member, Zach LaVine, is defending the three-time Olympic gold medalist in Melo.
Anthony led a Knicks squad in 2012-13, then brimming with veteran talent, to a first-round playoff victory over the Boston Celtics only to have their Finals dreams squashed by Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers. Hibbert, a young Paul George, and the Pacers defeated Melo and the Knicks in six games in the Conference Semifinals.
A year later, Carmelo visited the Bulls while weighing his free agency options, but evidently decided to stay put with the Knicks, playing just a stone's throw away from his birthplace of Brooklyn.
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