NBA: 3-Time Champ Wants Carmelo Anthony In The NBA, Nets Being Pushed

Carmelo Anthony’s search for an NBA franchise continues despite teams getting ready for training camp, which is expected to get underway at the end of this month. The veteran forward is desperate to play at least one more season and have a proper send-off before hanging up his jersey.

The 35-year-old last played in the NBA in November 2018 when he was signed with the Houston Rockets. He played 10 games for the franchise before being excluded from the squad and traded to the Chicago Bulls, who waived him almost immediately.

Anthony has since been training regularly but the lack of interest shown by teams to sign the 10-time All-Star has surprised many current and former players. A number of players have come out in support of the veteran forward including close friend Dwayne Wade, who believes Anthony deserves to play in the NBA if he is given the right role in the right team.

“He’s a brother of mine and a great friend and I’m just very disappointed that he’s not in the NBA because he doesn’t deserve that as a person. Melo is one of the best individual people I know and a lot of people don’t know that because things that have been said about him in the past,” Wade said, as quoted on the Los Angeles Times.

“Hopefully he gets an opportunity to be with a team this season because he has a lot to still offer the right team in the right role and the right situation. I want him to be able to end his career the way he wants to end it.

“He deserves that as someone who has carried the torch for this game and done so much for the league and Team USA in the Olympics. He deserves better than this,” the three-time NBA champion, who is now retired, added.

The Brooklyn Nets are searching for a forward, having lost Wilson Chandler to a 25-game suspension while new signing Kevin Durant will miss the entire season with a ruptured Achilles. They were looking at Joe Johnson but the veteran is said to be favorite to join Detroit Pistons.

Kyrie Irving and Durant were reportedly pushing the Nets to sign Anthony and other players are said to have joined in, according to the New York Post. The major concern for executives around the league about signing Anthony is that the player could cause problems in the locker room by demanding a bigger role than they are willing to offer.