The Oklahoma City Thunder made the big splash move on Saturday morning with the acquisition of All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony.

It came less than a day after Anthony had opened up the teams he would waive his no-trade clause to include the Thunder. According to Royce Young of ESPN, the 33-year-old revealed that reigning league MVP Russell Westbrook played a huge part in helping get him to approve a deal to Oklahoma City.

“Russ don't really do the convincing,” Anthony said Monday, with a laugh. “He came to New York and played pickup at my gym. I saw him in Paris at Fashion Week. Me and Russ became closer and closer over the years. He was a big part, he was a big reason why I wanted to come here. To see his loyalty to the city, to this organization, what he was able to do on the court — I wanted to be a part of that.

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Westbrook had developed a stronger bond with the 10-time All-Star over the summer by taking part in a couple of pickup games in New York that appears to have put the building blocks in place for him to finally add the Thunder to his list.

This likely gave him the first-hand experience of what it would be like to play alongside Westbrook. It also doesn't hurt that he has progressively developed into one of the league's top players coming off his first MVP award.

Anthony has now helped form a potential powerhouse in the Western Conference that could be a serious challenge to the Golden State Warriors. The Thunder now possess three proven scorers with Westbrook, Anthony, and Paul George that could quickly make them a legitimate title contender