During a recent interview, Royce White made his stance on Carmelo Anthony's absence from the NBA crystal clear. White feels that if Jared Dudley can get a gig with the Los Angeles Lakers, Melo should be able to land a job in the league as well. White even specifically said Melo should have a job with the Lakers over Dudley:

“How is [LeBron] letting his banana boat buddy wait out there in the wings? And they go sign Jared Dudley and not Carmelo,” White said during his interview with ESPN.

“If anybody watching this thinks that Jared Dudley can hold Carmelo Anthony's jock strap, I'll slap you,” White said in closing.

Dudley, who signed with the Lakers this summer, heard what White had to say and decided to respond with a high road approach:

“This isn’t Melo vs. myself,” Dudley wrote in a tweet. “That man is a first ballot Hall of Famer. We all want to see him back in the league. Royce seems uniformed when he speaks and this situation in calling my name out. This league is not about who’s better than who. It’s what’s players make for the best team.”

Dudley will be looking to carve out a role with the Lakers in the coming season. The 34-year-old forward made 59 appearances with the Brooklyn Nets last season (25 starts), racking up averages of 4.9 points on 42.3 percent shooting from the field (35.1 percent from beyond the arc), 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 20.7 minutes per outing.

Should Melo be on an NBA roster right now? Probably. Strangely, though, teams haven't been too keen on picking him up. There have been reports of interest here and there, but no deals have come to fruition for the former Syracuse standout.