NBA: Forward's Request To Join Team USA Rejected

Carmelo Anthony is desperate to get back to playing competitive basketball and has been shopping himself around to teams in the NBA. He is keen to have a farewell season at the top level but has generated limited interest thus far.

The free agent forward’s latest attempt at resurrecting his career was a request to be part of Team USA that is preparing for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Shanghai later this month. But his request which came through his representative was rejected by the national’s team’s managing director Jerry Colangelo.

Team USA’s managing director showed his appreciation for Anthony past contributions to the national team but admitted that it was time to move on with the players currently at training camp. The free agent forward is arguably one of the greatest ever for Team USA owing to his one bronze and three gold medals at four Olympic Games but Colangelo believes his presence would cause a distraction for the rest of the team.

“I love Carmelo,” Colangelo told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix. “He made a great contribution. He was a very good international player. But for where we are and what we’re doing, that conceivably could have been a distraction. I understand why the request was made. He’s trying to re-establish himself. I think that has to be done in the [NBA].”

Anthony was signed by Houston Rockets last season but played just 10 games for the franchise before he was removed from the squad and eventually traded to Chicago Bulls, who waived the player to make him a free agent. The forward last played in November 2018 and was hoping to land a new team this summer.

The New York Knicks were interested in bringing him back but only if they landed two big free agents in the offseason but both their primary targets, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, chose to join rivals Brooklyn Nets instead, which likely ended Anthony’s chances of signing with his former team. The Lakers were also among the teams interested but they are looking at other options to fill their final roster spot ahead of the upcoming campaign.