If you haven't seen Carmelo Anthony's interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN First Take, I suggest you give it a watch, because it's really interesting.

Basically, Anthony sat down in a tell-all conversation with Smith, a long-time supporter of Anthony, and explained how he is feeling now that he has been out of a job for nine months.

I have to be honest: it was hard watching Melo, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Anthony went into detail about how his divorce with the Houston Rockets occurred back in November, saying that Daryl Morey flat out told him before a game that his “services are no longer needed.”

Obviously, that's a gut punch to anyone in any industry. I don't care if you're a 35-year-old playing in the NBA or a 17-year-old working at McDonald's. Getting terminated is never a good feeling, and when you then can't find a job for nine months, that feeling worsens.

But the disconnect between Anthony and the rest of the NBA seems to be the reason why he is unemployed.

Let's be honest: it's clear as day why Anthony isn't on an NBA roster at the moment. The game has passed him by, as iso scorers who dominate the ball and don't play any defense are a thing of the past, and when that iso scorer is 35 years old and five years past his prime, the situation becomes that much stickier.

Melo kept saying that the “politics” of the game are why he is currently jobless, saying that he felt his essential dismissals from both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Rockets were “deeper than basketball.”

And while it's understandable for a player as talented and accomplished as Anthony to feel this way, it's just not true.

Anthony played in 10 games for Houston this past season and averaged 13.4 points per game while shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 32.8 percent from three-point range. Those aren't good numbers.

Now, did Morey pull the plug a bit too soon? Maybe, but given how poorly the Rockets started and much Melo was struggling to fit in, it was probably the right decision.

As far as his one-year stint in Oklahoma City? Anthony registered 16.2 points per game but made just 40.4 percent of his field-goal attempts and 35.7 percent of his long-distance tries.

It's not like Anthony excels in any other areas to make up for his lack of efficiency, either. He isn't a good facilitator. He isn't a good defender. The only area in which he has truly performed well throughout his entire NBA career has been scoring, and he can no longer do that at a high level, or even a mediocre level.

The fact of the matter is that Anthony is plainly not the same player he was five years ago, and even the player he was five years ago was not exactly a player that a whole lot of teams coveted.

Anthony can also say that coming off the bench isn't an issue as much as he wants, but it's obvious that the 30 teams in the NBA don't feel the same way, and it's also obvious that none of those clubs think Anthony can effectively play in the modern NBA, particularly in his current state.

As Smith pointed out multiple times during the interview, Melo has a lot of friends around the league, one of which is LeBron James. You mean to tell me that James would not be able to land Anthony a job on the Los Angeles Lakers if the Lakers still felt he could help? Remember: the Lakers were scrambling just to fill out their roster last month. You're telling me that Los Angeles would have brought back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope over LeBron's good friend if it thought Anthony had anything left?

Look, I'm not trying to further pile on Melo, because him being in this position is tough enough as it is, but it's also evident that he has not really come to terms with much of anything.

Anthony repeated several times that there are 30 teams in the league, all having 15-man rosters. He seems to be in utter disbelief that he can't find a spot on any of those squads, and talent-wise, he is right. There is no question that Anthony is more talented than a good number of players currently in the league, but it's not just about talent. It's about fit.

Melo just doesn't fit in today's game anymore. Heck, even if he were in his prime when he was averaging 28 points per game, he would still have difficulty fitting in. He would obviously have a role somewhere because scorers like him don't come around too often, but would he have been a hindrance to winning?

I get it. Anthony's exile from Houston is still relatively fresh, so he still thinks that it had more to do with other factors rather than his actual performance, but notice how Melo never actually cited what factors he was referring to? He simply kept saying “politics” and “deeper than basketball” without actually extrapolating on what he was trying to say.

That tells me that deep down, even Anthony knows the real reason, but he has simply not allowed that knowledge to surface just yet, and again, it's understandable. We are talking about a 10-time All-Star here who was an icon for an extended period of time.

Falling from grace is never easy, and that is what Anthony seems to be grappling with right now. But at some point, he needs to come to grips with the fact that the reason he isn't being signed is strictly because of basketball; it literally doesn't go any deeper.

By all indications, Anthony is a good guy. He has never caused any problems in the locker room. Teammates seem to like him. He is great with the fans, he is friendly, and he has matured significantly since his early years in Denver.

So the idea that teams are staying away from Melo for non-basketball-related reasons is probably off the mark.

It has everything to do with the fact that Carmelo Anthony isn't Carmelo Anthony anymore and that his style of play, in general, has gone all but instinct in 2019.

One day, Anthony will accept that, but for now, watching him toil is just flat out sad.