It's no secret that LeBron James was the man responsible for recruiting Carmelo Anthony to the Los Angeles Lakers. These two go way back, and it feels like they were destined to be teammates at some point in their decorated careers.

The paths they took to where they are today are totally different, though. Melo opened up about his struggles a few years back when his career nearly came to an untimely conclusion. Lucky for him, he had his son to keep him on his toes throughout those dark times:

“But also being around my son, and being around his teammates, and going to the tournament and them giving me that love,” Anthony said on HBO's The Shop, via Lee Tran of Fadeaway World. “That was a different kind of love. Like forget the media. When you get the love from kids like that. It's like oh… I gotta be there, I gotta do what I gotta do.

“They telling me: ‘Man you ain't done. Keep doing what you doing.'

“It's a beautiful feeling. It's embarassing!”

There's nothing like a son's love to keep you in check. For Melo, he drew inspiration from how his son continued to motivate him in spite of what seemed like a truly dire situation.

“Listen, the year that I was away from the game,” Melo continued. “The hardest thing was to go from here to here. Right? And not knowing why. So, I walk in the house, I'm talking to my son, watching the game. He's just like:

“Dad.. yo him?! He playing?! But dad now he trash. Like I don't see him in the league and you ain't in the league. Like… what's going on?”

“Everybody got different situations, man.”

The fact that Carmelo Anthony was able to revitalize his career is a testament not only to his talent but to his ability to overcome adversity as well. As it turns out, his son, Kiyan, had a lot to do with it.