Former Denver Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony recently opened up about why he ultimately did not go to South Beach to team up with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in Miami Heat uniform. Anthony revealed that there were initial talks between him, James, Bosh, and Wade about playing on the same team, though, they just couldn't figure out where would they make that dream team-up happen.
“With Bron, it was always like, ‘Yo, we got to make it happen. Some way, somehow, the opportunity comes up. Let's make it happen'. We just never knew where. ‘You going to New York?' I ain't going to Cleveland. ‘You coming to Denver?'” Carmelo Anthony shared during an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George Presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment.
Anthony also said that he and his fellow 2003 NBA Draft batchmates started to seriously talk about playing together after playing and losing in the World Championship in Japan. It can be recalled that Anthony, James, Wade, and Bosh were all on that squad that only took home the bronze.
The New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls were teams Anthony said that they brought up in conversations.
“Then the conversation got serious after like 2006, 2007, 2008. We were supposed to be Bosh and Wade, and then me and ‘Bron, like going somewhere. We just couldn't find out where. We wanted it to be New York or Chicago. Chicago was in the fold. If we were going to find a place, then let it be. Go to Chicago. Like, no, I'm in Denver. You're in Cleveland,” Anthony told George.
Carmelo Anthony explains reason why he did not join the Heat
Anthony had a chance to follow LeBron and company to the Heat in 2011 but he instead reportedly requested a trade to the New York Knicks, which was then granted. Why not Miami? It all boiled down to Anthony wanting to be his own man.
“Imagine me at 23 years old, 24 years old, being the fourth option on the team. When I'm leading my team every single year, like I'm finding my way in this league and you want me to leave that and go be a fourth option. I don't know mentally how I was gonna be ready for that,” Anthony explained.
“It ain't got nothing to do with money. I wouldn't, I'd have had a different role. I'd have had to figure out my role on that team. These are alphas that we all coming together like, Bron is an alpha, D-Wade is an alpha. Chris Bosh was ridiculous in Toronto. So for them three to go, I'm like, ‘Man, hell no.' I can't be that fourth, hell no.”
So, while James, Wade, and Bosh won championships in South Beach, Anthony played his role as a true, undisputed alpha in The Big Apple. Anthony never won a title in his NBA career, but he got to enjoy No. 1 status in New York for several years. During his time with the Knicks, he averaged 24.7 points through 412 games.
For what it's worth, Anthony's 35.6 percent usage rate in the 2012-13 season in New York was the highest of his career. He would have never sniffed that if he joined James and company in Miami.
Anthony was still able to play on the same NBA team as James before the end of his career, as he spent the 2021-22 campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers, but clearly was the player he used to be at that point.
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