They played against each other plenty of times, most notably in the 2008 Western Conference Finals and the Olympics, but Pau Gasol and Carmelo Anthony's careers are uniquely linked, thanks to an unfortunate injury and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Anthony and Gasol's NBA careers overlapped quite a bit; Gasol entered the league in 2001 as the third overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies, and two years later, Anthony went third overall as well, being drafted by the Denver Nuggets.
For the next 15 or so years, the two players each earned numerous accolades and established themselves among the best in the league. Gasol was the 2002 Rookie of the Year, a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA selection, and, most importantly, a two-time NBA champion. Anthony, while never hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy, earned 10 All-Star and six All-NBA selections, as well as the 2013 scoring title.
In their careers, Gasol and Anthony never played for the same team at the same time. However, they did both play for the Los Angeles Lakers — seven years apart — were both on the Chicago Bulls — three years apart, and in Anthony's case, extremely briefly — and they each signed a contract with the Blazers.
Gasol never got the chance to play a game on that contract for Portland, though, and that is how Anthony came to be a Blazer and reinvigorate his NBA career.
In the summer of 2019, just weeks after turning 39, Gasol signed a one-year deal with the Trail Blazers. He had missed most of the previous season with the San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks due to injuries, and while trying to rehab, he suffered a second stress fracture in his foot in November 2019. Portland, seeing Gasol would not be able to play that entire season, released him.
And in a surprising move, the Trail Blazers opted for Anthony, who had played just 10 games with the Houston Rockets the previous season and had seemingly been discarded by the NBA.
“So my injury gave him the opportunity to play again, prove himself,” Gasol said, via ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
At age 35 and with hundreds of millions in career earnings, Anthony, who had been without a team for more than 10 months, signed a nonguaranteed, ‘prove-it' deal with the Blazers in November 2019. He started all 58 games he played of that 74-game season, averaging 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds and shooting 43.0% from the field and 38.5% on 3-pointers. His play earned him another one-year deal with Portland. Anthony signed a final one-year deal with the Lakers the following summer.
Anthony is set to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday. The 2008 USA Basketball Men's National Team, known as the ‘Redeem Team', of which Anthony was a part, will also be inducted.
