"We just never knew where": Carmelo Anthony opens up on almost teaming up with LeBron James in Chicago before Miami Big 3

NCAA Football: SEC Football Championship-Georgia at Alabama
Carmelo Anthony opens up on almost teaming up with LeBron James in Chicago before Miami Big 3 (image credit: IMAGN)

Former NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony opened up about the plans long ago to team up with LeBron James on a big market team. He joined Paul George's "Podcast P with Paul George" to share some details of his and James' desire to play together before.

"Bron always said, like, 'we gotta make it happen,' we just never knew where...'You going to New York? I ain't going to Cleveland!'" he joked.

Carmelo Anthony mentioned the complicated dynamic between him, James, and Dwyane Wade, who were all close individually, but not on the same page in terms of free agency decisions. He said the conversations got serious around the 2007-08 season and when they began playing together internationally.

Explore the NBA Draft 2024 with our free NBA Mock Draft Simulator & be the GM of your favorite NBA team.

He then added how at one time it felt like James was not going to head to Miami and instead land somewhere with him.

"It was supposed to be Bosh and Wade and then me and Bron going somewhere," he said. "We just couldn't find out where. We wanted it to be New York...or Chicago. I'm in Denver, you in Cleveland...let's make it work."

Anthony attributed the plan falling through to a combination of things but mentioned that he lacked the business sense to figure everything out the way that James eventually did in Miami.

"I wasn't business savvy enough to understand the situation," he said.

There were even rumblings of Carmelo Anthony finding his way in Miami with the "Big 3" who eventually went on to win two championships. He said that from a basketball standpoint, he couldn't envision himself next to three other stars.

"Imagine me at 23 years old, being the fourth option on the team, when I'm leading my team every single year? he said. "And you want me to leave that and go be a 4th option? I don't know mentally how I was going to do that. It had nothing to do with money."

He also said he expected to be the fourth option because of how strong James, Wade, and Bosh were at that time.

"Bron is an alpha, D-Wade is an alpha, nobody gives Chris Bosh enough credit, he was ridiculous in Toronto...I'm cool, I'm out here in Denver."

Anthony went on to say that there was a potential scenario where it wouldn't have worked out. He referred to the 2003 LA Lakers, who brought together several Hall of Fame players to chase a title, only to lose their title shot.

"It was always a what-if in Miami, people always look at it like Melo was selfish. They made it worth it because they figured it out, they worked it out," he said.

Carmelo Anthony, Kamala Harris picture resurfaces online

Fans were surprised to see a photo of Carmelo Anthony and Vice President Kamala Harris resurface on social media.

The two appeared to pose together back in 2011, when Anthony was with the New York Knicks and when Harris was the Attorney General of California.

The photo became relevant on Sunday with the news of President Joe Biden withdrawing his name from the upcoming presidential election and endorsing his VP.

Miami Heat Nation! You can check out the latest Miami Heat Schedule and dive into the Heat Depth Chart for NBA Season 2024-25.

Quick Links

Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications