Kobe Bryant was the one who wanted the Lakers to acquire Carmelo Anthony five years ago before the former Nuggets player was traded to the Knicks, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News details. Some players in the past have been outspoken about not wanting to play with Bryant, but, as Isola writes, Anthony was attracted to the idea.
“He did. Kobe did. He wanted it to happen,” Anthony said, per Isola. “I don’t know who was going to be part of that deal. There was a lot of talk of Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Nene. There was a lot of talk during that time. For some reason I was always connected with the Lakers … Maybe it was just Kobe behind closed doors.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Anthony’s strained relationship with Tyson Chandler played a significant role in the center’s trade to the Mavs in June 2014, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report relays on Twitter.
- Shane Larkin, who is one of the few bright spots for the Nets this season, said he passed up more money to sign with Brooklyn over the summer after the Knicks declined the third-year team option on his rookie contract because of the diversity in New York, Steven Simineri of NetsDaily relays. “I grew up in Orlando, Florida, with a lot of different ethnicities, a lot of different cultures and being up here is kind of the same thing,” Larkin, who is averaging 7.2 points per game, told Simineri.
- The Sixers‘ losing culture, often referred to as “tanking,” or the idea of racking up losses to obtain high picks, proves that the league’s draft lottery system is flawed, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report argues. The Sixers entered action Wednesday night with a 1-18 record. While the Sixers are off to one of the worst starts in NBA history, they get rewarded via the lottery and get the Lakers’ first-round pick as long as the Lakers win enough to stay out of the top three in the draft lottery, Ding writes.