Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons why LA should sign Carmelo Anthony
By Jason Reed
1. Carmelo Anthony has proven that he is willing to be a lesser role player
The main thing that seemingly held so many teams back from signing Carmelo Anthony two years ago was his demeanor. Melo had been the superstar everywhere he played, including college, and he simply was not that player anymore.
There were concerns that while Melo was not a star player he would treat himself as such as would not take a lesser role. Perhaps early on he still thought of himself that way but as more time went on in free agency it likely became clear that he is not that guy anymore.
He was not that third star on the Oklahoma City Thunder that they made him out to be. He was a role player that is the seventh or eighth-best player on a team and the quicker he accepted that the quicker he came back to the league.
He has proven in his two seasons with Portland that he understands his place in the league and he is willing to play that role to keep playing professional basketball. He went to a team that has a ball-dominant guard in Damian Lillard and far more scoring options around him and didn’t try to play hero ball. He just tried to help the team win a championship.
Does he have his moments off the bench where he tries to find some of that vintage form? Sure. If he does that in a February regular-season game then nobody is going to complain. But Anthony has shown us that he now knows his place and will do what it takes when the spotlight is the brightest.