On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers introduced 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony and 10-year veteran Kent Bazemore. Both players spoke to the media and discussed, among other things, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, embracing their roles, and the pursuit of an NBA championship.

On Friday, the Lakers officially acquired Russell Westbrook, signed Anthony, Bazemore, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, Kendrick Nunn, and Malik Monk, and re-signed Talen Horton-Tucker. The latter six met with the media.

The Lakers will hold a press conference on Tuesday at Staples Center to introduce Westbrook. Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and head coach Frank Vogel — fresh off a contract extension — will be present. (It'll be the first time since exit interviews that Pelinka and Vogel will take questions.)

Ironically, Bazemore — who played 23 games in Los Angeles in 2013-14 and played with Anthony in 2019-20 with the Portland Trail Blazers — was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Lakers in 2014 as the team aimed to clear cap space to offer Melo a max contract. Their recruitment did not go great.

In 2021, both vets are happy to be a part of a prolific Lakers roster.

“That kind of lit a fire underneath me a little bit back in the day, when I used to hold onto those kinds of things before I understood the business side of everything,” Bazemore, 32, acknowledged. “I’m just very fortunate to have another opportunity to play in the best league of basketball with one of the greatest organizations in any sport … I’m here to win.”

“It seems like throughout my whole career, I’ve always been connected with the Lakers, someway, somehow,” Anthony said. “Whether it was through my brother Kobe, regardless what it is … So, it wasn’t really no pitch this time, I think it was just more of an understanding, like, ‘OK, the time is now…Let’s put this thing together.'

Anthony revealed that his long-time friend, LeBron James, echoed that sentiment.

“There’s a lot of understanding on my behalf, there’s a lot of understanding on the Lakers' behalf … Bron came to me one time and said ‘The time is now. I want you. We gotta make this happen.’ And I took that information and took that dialogue and took my time with it and weighed all the options … and I just felt that, for right now, this was the best time for us. Most people would say we should’ve got together years ago or early in our careers, but we were in two different lanes, we were on two different paths. Everything comes full circle.”

Bazemore, too, is eager to compete alongside LeBron.

“I have a lot of respect for him, what he’s done for the game of basketball,” Bazemore said. “Even winning the last championship down in the bubble. I was down there, and I realize how crazy of a grind it was for them to get it done … I always wanted to play against him … I got a chance in Atlanta, Eastern Conference Finals. I realized how different of a beast he was and lost a lot of sleep having to guard him … His team would put me on the floor, but I ain’t back down. … Obviously, I don’t have near the track record that he has. But he’ll probably say in 15 years that I was one of the guys who never backed down. Even in practice, it ain’t gonna change.”

Anthony is seeking his first ring, but he's just as hungry to experience the trials and tribulations of a championship pursuit.

“Every year we all come into the season saying, ‘OK, we want to win a championship,'” Anthony said. “How hard it is to get there and to achieve that? That’s on a whole ‘nother level. That’s extremely hard, to accomplish that. I’m coming in with a championship on my mind. I think we all know that this is the one thing that I’m missing. This is the one thing that keeps me up at night. It motivates me because I don’t have it. I want that experience. I want to experience what it’s like — going through the ups and downs of a championship season with a team: The turmoil, and how we come together when those things not going right. When adversity hit, how we gonna come together even tighter, how we gonna have each other’s back, how we gonna support each other. Because the basketball part of it is gonna take care of itself. We have the talent.

“I’m more excited about the journey of this season — not so much getting on the court in the game because we’re going to win games, we have to win games, let’s just be quite frank — but everything else that comes along with that: The journey, and learning these guys a little bit more and seeing the work ethic and being in the locker room and on the team bus and on the team plane and building a bond and camaraderie to the point where nothing will affect us, anything on the outside world cannot affect us. For me, that’s the most important part that I’m looking forward to.

“When it starts raining, then what happens? How do we come together? How do we keep our locker room together? How do we keep the young guys engaged in what’s going on when we’re losing games or we drop some games to some teams that we wasn’t supposed to? What happens then? That’s where the expertise and the experiences comes into play. I’m excited about that part of it.”

Neither player knows precisely what their role is going to be for the Lakers. Anthony insisted his ego his permanently “checked,” after embracing a bench role in Portland.

“I’m cool, just be transparent with me,” he said. “I was cool with that decision… I had to figure out a way to motivate myself, to keep myself going … I had to swallow that ego. I had to swallow that pride, but I also had to use that ego and that pride to keep me on edge and keep me motivated. I’ve accepted that … I enjoyed it, it was fun, it was basketball. I still was able to do my thing and play ball and have fun and have the love for the game again. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, I just know I’m prepared. I’m ready. I’m ready to go play basketball, I know what’s at stake here. I’m totally locked in.”

Anthony (40.9%) and Bazemore (40.8%) are coming off the most efficient three-point shooting seasons of their careers in 2020-21.

One thing making the transition easier for Anthony? A lack of suspense.

“You just gotta do it,” he said about checking ego. “You gotta understand your surroundings. You gotta understand the situation that you in. A lot of times, it’s not always gonna be about you. … Now, I’m able to get this decision out the way. I’m cool now, I don’t have to worry about where I’m going, what training camp I’m going to be in, what type of workouts I have to do. I’m smooth sailing. I can enjoy the rest of my summer, prepare for the season. … My ego’s been checked because I understand it — it’s all about having perspective on your situation. … I’ve learned that over the years.”

Bazemore knows nothing is guaranteed on this roster, and he, too, appreciates the transparency.

Bazemore said the Lakers aggressively pursued him and made him feel like an essential ingredient to the championship recipe.

“The Lakers were very, very persistent,” he shared. “I heard from Mr. Pelinka and Coach Vogel a ton over the first couple hours of the evening once free agency started. They really brought an amazing energy to the table. It really felt like I had a place on the roster to really make a difference, and, to me, that stuck out the most. It’s my tenth season — you’re trying to put yourself in the best position to succeed. And I felt like that’s here. Russell Westbrook, LeBron, AD, Melo, Trevor Ariza.”

As for the Lakers' historically old roster? Neither player seemed too concerned about it.

“I think we’re definitely one of the favorites this year,” Bazemore said. “A lot of people want to talk about our age … Experience is key … You gotta go through the ups and downs of this league, only the strong survive.

‘We are the best team in basketball’ – that’ll be my message all year, regardless of what we’re going through.”

18 years into his career, Melo, 37, believes the Lakers' collective seasoning provides a distinct advantage.

“We are there at that part of our career where we understand the importance of what it means to take care of your body, what it means to take care of our mind,” he said. “In this situation, experience comes into play, understanding one another. Whereas, if all of us would’ve came together early on in our career, we probably wouldn’t have the same understanding as we’re gonna have right now. I think we’re all ready to take on whatever role that all of us need to take on in order to reach that ultimate goal.

I think people forget, at the end of the day, it’s about basketball … You gotta know how to do it. You have to have that experience. I think that’s what we bring at this point in time. Our talent, our skill, but also our experience.”

Above all else, at this stage in his career, Anthony, like Dwight Howard, simply wants to bring his love of the game to Los Angeles.

“You gotta kick me out again for me not to love the game,” he said. “You gotta take me away from the game for me not to love the game. I’ve found a new love, a new joy for the game — being away from the game for a year and some change, being able to come back and still play basketball and enjoy it and play at a high level. That keeps me motivated. That’s what keeps me close to the game. And also now, understanding what’s at stake, the opportunity that I have, and that we have right now to go win a championship. … I’m excited about it, we’re excited about it. I’m bringing that love and that joy to the game to L.A.

“Even though I’m the elder statesmen on the team and I’m mentoring and I’m teaching, I’m still learning at the same time. So, I’m getting the best of both worlds.”